Fortuna vel nex: Fate or Death
by Arrow-of-Mirkwood
Summary: Imagine two perfectly normal girls. Now imagine they are transported to around 730 AD; during the time of King Arthur and have to somehow get back, travelling across ancient Briton. And all the while the gods watch on, interfering whenever they can...
1. The Game of Life

Hi guys, so sorry but i've made some editing to a few of the chapters, as I wasn't happy with them. It won't be noticable, exept for the italics at the start of some of the chapters. Yes, they are kinda important to the storyline.

I guess you could say they explain why some of the things happend. :)

Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think.

Oh and apolgies for the long delay. it's becuase of a nasty little thing called exams.

Chapter One

* * *

_The game of Life_

_Fate wasn't happy. Not happy at all. She'd lost the last game, and look how that had turned out. She wasn'__t ready to lose again, they'd only just managed to eradicate the bubonic plague, and another dose of it surely couldn't be survived. Weak creatures, those mortals, but engaging. Maybe that's how they'd survived so long._

_Fate carefully set the chess board in place. "Best of three?" _

_And death smiled._

_

* * *

  
_

"Careful," I warned Evie as she slowly pulled away the rotten boards from the broken window.

She turned and gave me a quick grin, "Don't worry, this will be great" she said in what I assumed was supposed to be a reassuring tone. It wasn't.

The very fact that we had sneaked out in the middle of the night was alone enough to set me on edge, add that to the fact that we were now attempting to break into an abandoned cinema; it was no wonder I was more than a little jittery.

It was all Evie's idea of course, and as usual I had been convinced to go along with it, just like the time we went swimming in the neighbour's pool at midnight, or slipped out the window and spent the night dancing on the beach, but this was our most daring escapade yet. I was broken from my thoughts as Evie managed to pull the last of the rotten boards from the window.

"I really don't think this is a good idea"

"Sure it is." Evie climbed through the window, her height making it easier for her. Not so for me.

Evie had to pull me through the window, the broken glass leaving a long scratch along my arm. It all went downhill from there.

We crept along a dilapidated corridor, the carpet crackled under my feet; it must have been at least ten years old, and thick with dust. As we wandered in the near darkness, I examined the walls by the rather pathetic light throw by Evie's pen torch. They were black and covered by peeling movie posters. It was obvious that the place had never been properly cleared out when it had closed down.

Evie stopped suddenly, causing me to almost walk into her.

"What is it?"

She looked around frowning, "Which door should we take?"

"I think we should go back. We've broken in, that's what we set out to achieve right?"

I knew I was whining but that's what I'm like, the careful one who always thinks of the ramifications of our actions, always thinks of what _might _go wrong. I guess Evie is more of a live-every-day-like-its-your-last kind of girl.

She sighed, "If you really want to we can go back but I mean, we came out all this way, it seems a bit pointless to just turn back, how about we go just a little further?"

She's good at that. Guilt tripping I mean. Leaving it up to me and making me feel bad enough to go along with what she says.

Predictably I agreed. "But only a little further."

She grinned, "Only a little."

If I had known how far that 'little further' would take me, I wonder if I would have been so quick to agree.

As it was we continued on, taking t

He left door which led us into one of the three movie theatres the cinema had once had in operation.

The chairs had been packed away in boxes which had never been removed; the big screen itself was covered by a large mildewed curtain. I stood cautiously in the doorway, unwilling to go any further, while Evie walked straight into the room and began examining everything in sight. Typical.

She suddenly let out a shout and I almost legged it right then I was so scared; my mind immediately presented me with a series of gruesome scenarios; she'd found a dead body, skeletons, a pool of blood.

In fact she was waving a small black box and calling me over excitedly.

Nervously I made my way towards her, "Idiot, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

She grinned bashfully, "Sorry. Look what I've found!" I examined the box in her hand, it looked rather ordinary.

"It's a box." I pointed out, rather unnecessarily.

She glared at me, "it's a film reel box. I think it might contain an old movie."

I restrained the urge to roll my eyes, only Evie could find a film reel exciting.

"Well open it then." I was vaguely curious as to what movie it held but the full blown excitement Evie was presenting me with was a little over the top and admittedly slightly amusing. Her excitement was catching however, and I found myself leaning closer as she carefully opened the box. A small note fell out and I bent to pick it up while Evie examined the reel with far too much professional interest for a seventeen year old girl.

The note was odd, it was handwritten and in the form of a kind of poem.

_I__'ve made the lives of countless men_

_And ruined those of many more_

_So__ stranger, pick either now or then_

_But be certain and be sure-_

_For this is a warning to those who choose_

_A__ll may make their choice to squander or learn_

_This is a game of life, in which you __win or lose._

_Any can enter, but few may__ return_

It seemed like some kind of ominous warning of some kind, a joke I guessed, or maybe the catchphrase from whatever movie the box held. It was really too dark to make out properly so I put it in my pocket to look at later.

It had made me even more nervous though, so I started making my way to the door. Evie looked up and stared at me as if I was mad. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving?"

"Oh come on, we have a reel, and I know enough about film to get it working, don't you want to try it on the screen?"

I didn't, but it's wasn't like I hard any real reason not to, so I tried for excuses instead. "It's late Evie, we need to head back, it's dangerous to be out like this, we shouldn't stay too long, and it's not like the film will work, this place has been closed for a decade."

"Stop being such a pessimist, there's no harm in trying is there?"

"I suppose not", I mumbled uncomfortably.

Evie grinned and ran out the door to find the projector room and get the reel working.

I stood nervously, shifting from foot to foot as I waited. I like adventure as much as the next person but this, this was different. This wasn't like our usual escapades, this was dangerous.

I jumped violently and almost shrieked as a loud muffled noise started coming from the screen.

"Pull the curtain away!" Evie shouted from somewhere behind me.

I cautiously approached the curtain and tried to pull it to one side, however it came to pieces in my hands and fell straight down, narrowly missing covering me in mouldy material. I jumped back and stared at the screen.

I was surprised, I honestly thought it wasn't going to work after all these years, and who had kept the electricity going to the dilapidated old place was a mystery to me. Curiously the lights of the actual cinema did not work, Evie having tried them when we first entered. The only thing which seemed to have power was this one screen. However the peculiarity of this escaped me at that point.

Evie's shriek of delight did nothing to comfort me, there was something wrong, and I knew it.

She came rushing through the door, my eyes pinpointing the prick of light her torch made in the darkness. She impulsively hugged me, "its working! It's working!" she crowed.

I rolled my eyes. "So what movie is it?"

She shrugged, "It didn't say."

We both turned to watch the screen.

Muffled sounds were coming from it, what sounded like birdsong and a methodical banging like an axe against wood, however the screen itself remained dark.

Evie watched it hopefully, biting her lip.

I shook my head, feeling the urge to say 'I told you so'. Instead I patted her on the arm, "Come on, it's obviously broken. I don't know about you but my nice warm bed is calling to me."

Evie swore, "It should have worked!" she hit the screen in frustration.

I gave her a bashful smile and turned to leave; Evie's voice stopped me.

"Uh, Niki?" her voice had an odd catch to it that made me stop and turn.

"What?"

"I think I'm…stuck."

I let out a disbelieving laugh, "What?" I strode closer to her.

And froze.

Her arm was half sunk into the screen, the darkness of what we had thought was the screen slowly dripping down her arm.

"What the f-"

She interrupted me with a shriek, "Something's pulling my hand!"

I latched onto her shoulder, I had no idea what was happening, I was scared out of my mind, but I wasn't about to lose my best friend to a rabid cinema screen.

However whatever it was on the other side had other ideas, Evie was being dragged _into _the screen and there was nothing I could do about it.

I dug my heels into the ground and gave a last-ditch massive pull to try and rescue Evie, for a second I had a burst of hope, feeling something give and Evie begin to fall towards me, but then the great screen finally came to life, the picture turning from black to pure white, everything was enveloped in a bright white light, and I felt myself falling into oblivion.


	2. Where Loyalties Lie

**Chapter Two**

Where Loyalties Lie

* * *

_Wisdom __watched the two carefully. "I wish you'd stop meddling in their affairs"_

_Death shrugged, "Why? It's fun."_

"_They're not pawns to pick up and disregard as you wish."_

"_That's exactly what they are" argued Death._

_Fate moved her knight forwards. "The board is set. Let the games begin"_

_

* * *

_

When my sight returned I was greeted with an odd spectacle. Evie's hand was being held in the grip of a large woodcutter, who was braced against a tree and had obviously been pulling her through. We were in the middle of a wood, and the screen was no-where in sight.

The woodcutter let go of Evie as if she were made of fire. "Her arm came out of the tree I thought she was somehow stuck within and tried to pull her through-" he fainted.

I'd probably do the same had two teenage girls mysteriously appeared through a tree.

I looked at Evie to see her reaction, she was staring at the prone woodcutter in unconcealed horror, me? At that point I thought I'd fallen into a bad dream.

Perhaps I had.

Evie began to swear repeatedly, staring around wildly. I blinked to see if the scene would change, when it didn't, I shook my head.

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

Evie looked up, wild eyed. "How the hell would I know? One moment I was hitting that cinema screen the next I'm here!" her voice rose as she panicked.

"Ok, just calm down," I said. I wasn't particularly calm myself, but I didn't know what else to say, and panicking wouldn't help anyone.

"What the hell happened?"

I shook my head, running through the possibilities in my mind, "Maybe this is a dream, it isn't actually real. Maybe the film reel released some hallucinogenic drug, maybe we got captured by aliens, or…" I stopped.

"What?"

"Or maybe this is real."

"How could it possibly be real? How could we be transported to another place?"

"Maybe we hit a wormhole, maybe this is the reason the cinema was closed."

"A wormhole." Evie deadpanned.

The woodcutter chose that moment to wake up; he looked around, stared at us and then froze, turning pale.

I ignored him and turned back to Evie. "Right now anything is possible. Who's to say we didn't step through a rip in the fabric of time and space?"

"Wait wait, _time?"_

I stopped to consider the ramifications of what I had just said. "Ohhh _shit_."

"I think-"

"I'm trying not to." I muttered.

Evie glared, "I think we should ignore the how or why and just try and do something about it. From what you are saying we could be anywhere, anytime. We need to find a city and try to get help."

I nodded seeing the sense in her words. Ignore what couldn't be explained.

"Works for me. So how do we get help?" In unison, we turned to the woodcutter.

He gulped.

I smiled.

He told us that we were still in Britain though he called it Albion which is the ancient name, however exactly where he could not say, and the precise date we were told was 'in the fifth year of King Arthur's reign.' I think Evie and I both almost went into hysterics at that point. However we eventually pulled ourselves together and asked the woodcutter the way to the next village.

"An hour north." He stuttered.

I nodded, "Would you come with us?"

But he shook his head fearfully, "I want nothing to do with you, now leave! I'm an honest man with nought to do with witchcraft."

I could see he was a lost cause so after he pointed out the path and told us which way north was, we left him.

The path was narrow and dusty; I was half afraid we would lose it in the forest as it was more of a thin trail, made by animals and worn over time. The forest itself was made up mostly of pine trees, leaving a thick cushioning of pine needles underfoot. Birdsong could be heard through the trees, there was no sign of human habitation at all. It almost felt like we were the last people alive on earth.

Until we ran into the bandits that is.

I wonder sometimes if the woodcutter knew when he sent us on our way that we would run into the bandits, and perhaps did not tell us of the danger because he thought us witches. Whether this was the case or not, I think one could have safely assumed we were the unluckiest people on earth, what with the way things were going at this point. However the bandits could have been avoided had we been a little more cautious, but we treated our journey like a walk in the park, oblivious to any danger. We would soon learn that the world we had entered was more dangerous than our own, and that type of behaviour would get us killed.

We literally walked straight into the bandits, one moment we were walking along the path, the next we were surrounded by a band of oddly dressed villains.

I counted five at a glance, and although I did not know them for bandits, I could well guess that these were no pleasant gentlemen.

If the leers and uncouth appearance was not enough, the array of weapons pointed in our direction and the cries of 'give us all your money!' was a dead giveaway of the type of character we had encountered.

We had very little of value on us, I still had my pack on my back from before, which contained a sweatshirt, a blanket, a penknife, some chocolate and a drink bottle. I like to come prepared, but I had in no way been prepared for this.

"We have no money." Evie told them nervously.

They exchanged glances; I could already see what they were thinking.

"If you have no money, then we will take you instead. Slaves fetch a pretty price in the right places."

They had strange accents which made them difficult to understand, but we certainly got the gist of their words.

However just when things were looking very grim, we were rescued, our saviour was no knight in shining armour, but for as long as he lived he would act as one to us, had we but known it then. As if sent by fate herself, a horse rounded the corner of the trail, and pulled up short when the rider saw the bandits facing us. The man astride the horse was huge; there was no other word for it. He must have been well over six foot and broad as a tree. He had dark red hair partially braided in Celtic designs, and underneath his wild beard his face could be seen as youthful, he carried a sword and wore mud stained clothing. However it was the giant battleaxe strapped across his back that attracted my attention. It also captured the attentions of the ruffians; their eyes seemed to be drawn to it. The sudden silence in the air was almost tangible, broken only by the red-headed giant, "What is going on here gentleman?" his voice was almost distorted by his strong Irish accent.

The bandits sheathed their weapons faster than they had been drawn, mumbling excuses and reasons they backed off, and quickly melting back into the trees.

The man surveyed us for a moment, and I felt a new sense of dread, this man was obviously formidable, judging by his appearance and the way the bandits had reacted to him. What if we had exchanged one danger for another?

The man dismounted, eying us warily, "What are you two girls doing out here alone?"

He made no comment on our clothing but the way he stared at us betrayed his curiosity, we did look very out of place, I was beginning to understand that in the time we were in we did not belong in any way. We were wearing black jeans and t-shirts, it had been to try and blend in with the night, but now I just felt self-conscious.

Evie answered for us, "We're lost." She stated truthfully, though perhaps unnecessarily as this fact was patently obvious.

A half smile lit his face, "Of that I am sure, but how did you get out here alone? It is too dangerous for you."

Evie and I looked at each other hopelessly, if we told the truth he would think we were insane, if we tried to lie he would surely see through it in a moment: Damned if we did, damned if we didn't'.

I think it was an unspoken decision that we would tell the truth, neither of us knew what to do, and when in doubt, tell the truth.

Of course it wasn't easy, I could see the smile fading from his lips and his face close off as we began, he obviously thought us fools or madmen, we even showed him the items in my backpack, which while normal for us, showed a modernity undiscovered in this world. Once we had finished our tale, he searched our faces carefully, as if looking for the truth in our eyes, and perhaps he found it for eventually he nodded. "At first, I thought you had wandered from you're home, then I thought you mad, now I see you truly are lost, more so then I thought. I am of a superstitious nature, and am a good judge of character, others are not so. While I believe you based on what you have said, many will not. I would suggest you keep the truth to yourselves. I am a woodsman, a hunter, and sometimes a guide. I know this land well, and can take you to one who may be able to help you. I will do this for no charge as it is a good mans duty to help those who are in need and I am heading the way you need to go; however you will have to keep up and do as I say."

At this point I could not believe our luck; of all the places and all the men in the world, to have stumbled upon this one was good luck indeed.

We eagerly agreed.

He nodded, that half smile once again lighting his lips. "I do not even know your names."

I was nervous of the large man but out of politeness introduced myself, "Nikita."

Evie of course stepped forward with a smile on her face and shook the surprised man's hand. "Evangel, call me Evie."

"I am Tarren the Bear."

Evie smiled, "Aptly named."

"So what is the plan?" I asked, surprising myself, for I was not usually one to bandy words with a stranger, I usually left that up to Evie who seemed to have a natural talent for it.

Tarren took a moment to consider, "We are heading to King Arthur's castle, his chief adviser, Merlin, is a magician, a great one I am told. He may be able to help you."

I exchanged a dubious glance with Evie, the concept of using a so called 'magician' to help us seemed unlikely; however it was our best bet at this point.

Tarren continued, stroking his beard absentmindedly, "We will head for the village Catterick, I have a friend there who can get us provisions for the journey. From there we will travel overland stopping in villages for provisions. Eventually we will get to the foot of the great mountains and must cross them to get to Camelot."

Camelot. It was upon hearing this word that I was certain, we were indeed in ancient Britain, at the time of King Arthur.

"How long will it take to get there?"

Tarren shrugged, "It depends, if we hit storms it will take longer, however I would say about three months."

Evie and I both looked at each other, wide-eyed. Three months was a long time, inconceivable for a travelling distance in our world.

Tarren shifted, obviously impatient to be on his way. "You may both ride on my horse for now; he is used to far heavier weights. And if anyone asks I am escorting you to some relative, in the south. Anything else will seem indecent."

It seemed odd to us but those were the customs of the time, so without complaint we went along with Tarren's wishes.

It turned out that us riding the horse proved to be more difficult than it first sounded.

For one thing, neither I nor Evie had ever ridden, and for another the horse turned out to be a lot higher off the ground then it had first seemed, and moved a lot more then I had thought. It didn't help when Evie tried to get on backwards, but eventually we were both astride the horse, which I had already started calling 'the monster' in my head.

Evie squared her shoulders determinedly, "We'll be fine. It's probably just like driving a car."

I stared at her, "Evie you don't know how to drive."

She glared, "The theory is there!"

Ignoring her flawed logic, we set off again, Tarren holding the horse's reigns and ambling alongside us. Conversation was stilted for the first mile or so, but eventually, and predictably, Evie became bored and began quizzing Tarren on his life and the world we were in.

I noticed that while he freely spoke of his adventures and gave us detailed information about the world we were in, he became close mouthed and quiet when asked about his childhood.

I suppose everyone is entitled to their secrets, and after a few tries, Evie avoided the subject of his childhood altogether. We passed the time fairly pleasantly, if a little awkwardly. The scenery was very beautiful, and would never have existed in our time. There were no cars, no roads, nor any houses. The countryside was of yet wild an untamed. It made me sad to think that in our time all this would be gone, destroyed to make way for the advancement of industry, building a new world in which men like Tarren would have no place in.

We reached the village Catterick a while later, I guessed it was about four in the afternoon, my watch had frozen for some reason, something to do with going back in time I guessed, so I had stowed it in my bag and was relying on the path of the sun to estimate the time. The village was small by my standards, hardly deserving to be called a village at all. It was made up of about ten little houses built from stone, the roofs were thatched with straw, and now it truly hit me that we were in pre-medieval times. As an avid reader of history, i.e. a geek, I guessed it to be around 700-730 AD; however I was no expert on the time period.

The people were dressed in rags, gaunt and hollow-faced, they looked up and stared at us as we passed, but upon seeing Tarren they all turned away and pointedly ignored us. I suppose he did look quite terrifying on first sight, and although I did not know it then, he had a fearsome reputation that preceded him.

Tarren however took no notice of the fear that his presence had incited. He strode purposefully towards the last house on the right, his horse trotting faithfully behind him.

The house in question looked just like the other houses surrounding it; tiny, miserable, impoverished. Tarren hesitated for a second before knocking. I exchanged a glance with Evie from atop his horse. Tarren seemed a formidable person, he had faced down bandits without a moments pause, anything that made this intimidating man hesitate, was enough to make me nervous.

However a moment later we found out the reason was perfectly innocent, as the door was opened by a short cherub-faced girl. "Tarren!" she exclaimed.

She must have been about twenty, her black hair was tightly curled into a bun and oddly, her fingers were stained with ink.

"Anna." Tarren gave a half bow.

"Mother's not home right now," she said blushing.

I noticed Tarren was also blushing, and I almost smirked. Apparently not everything had changed with time; youths still liked one another and were too embarrassed to admit it to the other, even though it was obvious to everyone in the world but them. From my knowledge of ancient times, women married very young, between fourteen and eighteen. Any older and you were considered too old, as the average life expectancy was about forty. Therefore I was curious, why was this girl unmarried? She had no prospects and would drive herself to utter poverty if she did not marry soon. I filed the thought away for later, to perhaps ask Tarren about, if I dared to breach what would obviously be a delicate subject.

I suddenly noticed Tarren was looking at me questioningly, and I realised I must have missed whatever he had been saying. I looked at Evie.

She flicked her eyes upwards in a brief you-idiot roll of the eyes. "So Niki, how are _you _going to get off the horse?"

I groaned.

I eventually struggled down from the horse, in an even more ungainly leap then I had made to get on the beast. I landed crouched on the ground looking like a nutter; however it was better than the alterative, which involved trying to land without bending the knees and ending up with a serious case of ground shock. Classic Evie.

Tarren and Anna stared at us as if we were insane, which is probably close to the truth. Anna turned to Tarren with raised eyebrows, "They aren't from around here?" she asked.

I withheld a snort. Slight understatement.

Tarren nodded, "It is a long story, why do we not all go inside and I will explain."

Anna nodded, opening the door wider and ushering us in.

The inside of the house was no better than the exterior, stone walls surrounding two tiny rooms; one was a kitchen and dining room, and the other a room with a single bed. I did not want to think about the absence of the bathroom.

Sweet smelling rushes covered the floor and the walls were covered in intricately hand drawn maps. I wandered over to study them, they showed Albion therefore I looked at them closely to try and memorise what I could. If I could learn the lay of the land it could be useful, though at the time I did not know exactly how much.

"You like my maps?" Anna asked me.

I turned surprised. "You drew these?"

"I know, it's not a normal past time for a woman, but yes, I took over from my father."

I nodded. Interesting.

Tarren led Anna over to the heavy wooden table and sat her down, then began talking to her quietly, glancing at us once every while.

Evie walked over to join me.

"Think he'll be able to convince her?"

"Come on, she's so in love with him he could tell her he was Spiderman and she'd believe her" I whispered.

Evie let out a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Apart from the obvious? This is my fault. I'm so sorry!" she half wailed.

I shushed her with a glance towards Tarren to see if they had noticed. They hadn't so I turned back to Evie. "I could have turned back at any time, we share the blame. And I don't blame you I promise." I gave her an awkward hug, not being a touchy-feely type of person.

However Evie, showing her different disposition to me, ended up giving me a desperate 'forgive-me' hug which left me gasping for breath and glaring solidly at her.

She grinned bashfully.

Tarren cleared his throat from behind us.

We turned, I wishing I could sink into the floor with the display of emotion that had just been shown.

"I have explained your situation to Anna, I will purchase a map; Anna will provide us with some fare to begin our journey. We will need to buy horses at the next town we come across which should be about two days walking distance."

I stared at Tarren like he was nuts, two days walk? I'd never walked more than half an hour in my life.

I could see Evie covering a smirk from the corner of my eye; my hatred of walking was well known to her.

I forced a smile. "Great. When do we leave?"

Tarren stared at Anna with a look of such adoration that I wanted to squeal with cuteness, or just puke with horror; neither would have gone down very well so I refrained. "We must leave once we have gotten our provisions." He told Anna, whose face fell.

"So soon?"  
"We have no time to waste." The tragic look on Tarren's face would have been comical had the circumstances not been so understandably sad.

Anna rested a hand on Tarren's shoulder for a moment, and then turned to us. "Firstly you must change into appropriate clothing. I have some spare clothes which will fit you."

Internally I groaned. Pre-medieval peasant clothing? Oh Joy.

Outwardly, I smiled politely. "Thank you."

She went to find said articles of clothing.

Tarren gazed around, looking for an appropriate map to purchase. Eventually he found one which he found satisfactory.

Anna returned with two piles of brown clothing. "They are not much, but they will keep you from being noticed, and serve you well."

Evie and I went quickly changed into them, finding out they were simple dresses, made from some type of animal skin, they were modest, but had a long slit up the side to not restrict movement and make it possible to ride horses while wearing them. Mine came below my knee and fitted fairly well; Evie's however was too short as her height was nothing if unusual for the era we were in. However it would have to do for the moment. Evie and I quickly checked our clothes to make sure we didn't leave anything in them; Evie found her pocket torch which she stowed in my pack, and I found a crumpled piece of paper that I did not bother to look at, just stuffed it in alongside the pocket torch.

Therefore we soon stood before Tarren, dressed appropriately and equipped with a satchel each containing a little dried meat and a small blanket.

Lastly, Anna handed us each a hand mirror. I was surprised and a little confused. At this point in time I knew that mirrors were precious and usually only owned by noblewomen. Why did Anna own three and why was she giving them to us?

Tarren was also confused, "What are these?"

Anna looked at us gravely. "My father gave these to me before he died. He told me that they are enchanted, if you breathe on them and speak the name of the person who has one, you will be able to see and speak to them. However they will only work twice. I have never used them and do not know if they will work. However take them, keep them safe, and only use them if you are in the gravest danger."

She received 'thank yous' from all of us; however she had eyes only for Tarren.

I thought for a moment he would kiss her on the lips, but he instead he gently lifted her chin with his finger and bestowed such a gentle kiss to her forehead that it meant more than anything else could. It was certainly beyond propriety for the time we were in, and he quickly stepped back and bowed to her. "Forgive me."

She smiled but she had tears in her eyes, "There is nothing to forgive. Come back to me."

"I swear it."

We turned then and began making our way out of the house and down the path.

I turned back as we left the house, and saw Anna leaning on the doorframe, looking grim, "Godspeed Tarren."

Tarren led the horse and we walked beside it as he said we all needed the exercise. The landscape alone was enough to keep me occupied; It looked like something out of a postcard, we followed a rough dirt track made by the tramp of may travellers over time, around us lay undisturbed fields and wild oak forests, foxgloves grew along the banks of a stream which the path roughly followed, there was no one else in sight and the only sound was that of birdsong.

As the day wore on the dirt track became broader and more worn, farms began appearing on either side of the track, and we occasionally passed travellers and farmers. We stopped underneath an old willow tree by the banks of the stream which had widened into a river; the shade of the massive tree was welcome after the hot sunlight which had been beating down on us for hours.

Sun cream would have been welcome at that point, but it was obviously not something that existed yet, and while I could feel myself browning, Evie's pale skin was turning a painful shade of red.

Therefore it wasn't surprising that she began splashing water on her sunburned shoulders to try and help the irritated skin. However how it turned into an all-out water fight, I will never know. Suffice to say we all ended up quite wet, and had to continue on with the sun drying our backs. We picked up speed as the afternoon turned to evening and the sun sank lower in the sky, the day cooled down significantly, and I shivered as I watched my lengthening shadow keep pace with me.

Tarren glanced behind at us, "We will be resting soon for the night."

He didn't mean out in the wilderness did he? I kept my dismay to myself however, for it felt rude to say anything.

Evie grinned, "Wow, we get to sleep outside!"

"Hurray," I muttered sarcastically.

I was somewhat cheered up however, as we stopped by a small stream close to a copse of trees, and Tarren quickly erected a kind of shelter using branches. It proved quite sturdy, and as we sat outside it, wrapped in our blankets round a small camp-fire Tarren had made, I felt quite safe, not afraid like I had expected.

Tarren pulled out a hipflask and held it out to me, "You like ale I hope."

I stared at him surprised, and was about to say we were below the drinking age when Evie jabbed me in the ribs. I winced and took the flask, taking a swig from it and then passing it to Evie, trying not to start coughing as the harsh alcohol burnt my throat.

Evie took a deep gulp and grinned. "Does everyone drink no matter what age here?" she asked innocently.

Tarren frowned, "Yes, do they not where you come from?"

"Oh no yes of course they do!" Evie hastily told Tarren so as not to get the alcohol taken away.

I withheld a laugh, "oh yes, Evie here has been drinking since she was four." I said with sarcasm that went totally over Tarren's head but caused Evie to glare at me evilly.

I returned the look with an innocent smile, all of which was lost on Tarren.

"We rise at dawn so I suggest you get some sleep," Tarren told us before taking a large blanket from the saddlebags, wrapping it round himself and curling up on the ground, with his back to us.

I raised my eyebrows at Evie who shrugged.

"...what a strange man."

I giggled, "Goodnight then."

And so I passed my first night one thousand years into the past.


	3. A Figure from the Past

**Chapter Three**

A Figure from the Past

* * *

There's nothing quite like waking up in the wilderness with a spider on your face, really, it was quite a unique experience, and one I wish never to repeat. I think all life forms within a mile radius would agree with me as well, after the ear-splitting scream which flew from my mouth, deafening everyone in sight.

Tarren jumped to his feet his hand going to the battleaxe beside him before he saw my problem and brushed it from my face. I then spent the next ten minutes shaking with horror.

Evie of course, slept through the whole thing.

After I had calmed down, Tarren looked at the still sleeping form of Evie. "How do we wake her?" he asked.

I grinned wickedly, "Evie! Look its Johnny Depp!"

Evie sat up suddenly, looking around widely until her eyes came to rest on me, and the broad smile I was giving her.

She swore at me and then told me to go and do something which I'm pretty sure is anatomically imposable. Tarren watched the entire exchange with a bemused expression on his face before telling us we were leaving.

Evie gaped, "What about food?"

"You will have to have it as we walk, eat some of the fare Anna provided us with. We should reach Ripon within a day or two, it is a large town and we will be able to purchase horses there as well as stock up on provisions."

And so we set off again, packing our blankets into the saddlebags and covering up the small camp fire from the night before, we began our long trek. My legs were aching from all the walking, and the tough meat did nothing to raise my spirits.

Evie had the same pained expression on her face that I did, but we suffered in silence, chewing stubbornly on the unidentified meat and keeping pace with Tarren. We walked without talking, apart from the occasional exchanging of words between Evie and I. Tarren was busy watching the road and the surrounding countryside, wary for danger. The road became busier as we travelled on; our path seemed to be mostly traversed by farmers, carrying goods from one village to the next, to sell their goods at markets or to take supplies back to their own farms. Therefore we passed many carts pulled by donkeys, or cows being led by farmers, there were very few horses about, the only one I saw that day was one being ridden by a soldier, speeding west. I therefore realised that few people owned them, mostly soldiers and knights, which made me wonder how Tarren had come to own his, and how he expected to purchase us two as they were obviously very expensive.

I mulled over the question for a while as we walked, eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I asked Tarren.

He strode on in silence for a while and I was just going to ask him again, when he replied.

"I was given this horse as a gift, for services to the king a few years ago. I often act as a mercenary, which is well paying if you go to the right people. Therefore although you may not be able to tell from my appearance"-at this Evie and I both grinned, as Tarren was one of the scruffiest looking people we had met, his clothing old, torn and stained with mud-"I am not poor, I own enough money to get by."

The explanation made sense, though I could not help but wonder what service he had provided to the king.

I spent the next few hours coming up with scenarios in my head of how he had saved the king and been rewarded for it, or maybe gone on some adventurous and brave quest and saved a princess or something.

We reached the town in the late afternoon, it turned out we had made good pace that day and had gone even faster than Tarren had expected.

The town was not like I imagined at all, I had expected some kind of medieval city, like those still found in France today. However this pre-dated those by hundreds of years, the first thing that had me in mild shock, was the fact that the large lake situated just outside the town was full of people bathing.

All of them very naked.

Evie and I averted our eyes, both of us totally embarrassed. I glanced at Tarren to see him smirking.

"You knew!" Evie accused him.

"Of course"

"You could have warned us!"

"Oh but where's the fun in that?"

"Bastard." Evie muttered.

He chuckled before leading his horse into the town, us closely following so as not to be lost in the crowds.

My shoes quickly became dusty from all the earth kicked up from the people, as within the town there were no cobblestones as I had expected, but dry earth, the houses were made from stone and were very low and small. There were stalls everywhere with people crying out their wares to the world. The town itself was surrounded by a fairly sturdy looking wall made from great logs planted firmly upright in the ground, the tops sharpened to a deadly point.

It was obvious that this country was used to war, and well prepared for it.

Even many of the wares at the market showed this, bows and quiver full of arrows were being sold, hardened staffs smoothed to a fine polish, and at one stall, a small metal dagger was on display, obviously of great value. Apart from this one item, I did not catch sight of any metal.

"Why are all the weapons from wood?" I asked.

"Metal is expensive, usually only the rich can afford it. Everyone else must make do with sharpened stakes or bows." Tarren walked over to one of the stalls, it was selling leather boots and all kinds of dried meats and other foods that would last over a long period of time.

Tarren turned to us, "You need new footwear yours are already falling apart."

I looked down at my beaten sneakers ruefully; it was true; our shoes were not made for the arduous conditions we were putting them through.

Tarren quickly purchased a pair of boots for us each, handing over two small, clumsily minted bronze coins. The boots pinched and were uncomfortable but I knew we would eventually break them in.

Next Tarren bought some more dried meat and some dried kind of ships-biscuits that I was willing to bet tasted as unappetising as they looked. After Tarren had purchased enough food to last us a while and stowed it in the saddlebags, he bought us each a water gourd and thicker blankets. Then we made our way over to the nearest inn.

It was small and made from wood and stone, a sign hung outside the door, naming the inn '_Darc Nyt', _and below it a crude drawing of a moon almost obscured by a cloud, presumably for the majority of people who could not read_. _The spelling made me smile, however it would soon fade off my lips once I set eyes on the interior of the building. The bottom half of the inn was a tavern, the upstairs where you could rent rooms.

Tarren flicked the stable boy a coin as he took the horse, and then pushed open the door to the building.

The room into which we entered was small, dark and rank. The floor itself was too dark to see of which I was grateful as I really didn't want to know what I was treading on, given the rest of the room. Stubs of candles made from foul smelling tallow cast a sickly yellow pall over the room, only dimly illuminating parts of the room. Old tables were placed in seemingly no order around the room, most deeply scored and scratched from I assumed past tavern brawls. I swore I saw a rat scuttle across the corner of the room and shuddered, turning my eyes instead to the barkeep. He was large and hairy, not unlike a gorilla, dusty bottles stood behind him and he was cleaning a roughly carved wooden mug with a cloth as dirty as himself.

The characters that frequented the place were no more savoury than the room itself; some were farmers, come for a drink after a long day, however most were travellers, with somewhat more shady intentions judging by their appearances. They sat in corners, away from the small pools of light; some were in groups, casting wary glances at everyone else. Most were armed in some way and none looked like they had washed in a year.

We received many glances as we made our way to the innkeeper, Tarren because of his size and metallic weapons, us because we had no place in such an unpleasant location.

The barkeep looked up and squinted, taking us in. "Women have no place here." He grunted.

Tarren nodded cordially, "I know that sir, but they are under my protection and I am charged to accompany them on their journey, we need a place to stay and a meal."

There was a quick exchange of coins between hands and the man nodded. "I'll see you have a room and some food."

Tarren nodded and went to sit down at one of the tables, we followed.

After a few minutes a well rounded woman probably in her early thirties brought us a jug of some kind of alcohol, three mugs and a large wooden plate of some kind of meat.

"Can I get you anything else?" she positively purred at Tarren, her dress slipping down further than could be proper.

Tarren, blushing bright red, ripped his gaze up to the woman's face and shook his head, hastily thrusting some coins into the woman's hand. She walked off looking slightly disgruntled.

Evie sniggered, "popular aren't you?"

Tarren shook his head, still bright red. "Such women frequent places such as these, hoping for easy money."

The tavern door suddenly opened with a bang, making me jump.

Most of the room's occupants turned to see who had entered the inn.

A huge man strode towards the tavern counter, flanked by two men, both of whom were very different from one another. The large man in the centre, obviously the leader looked somewhat like a boar, his eyes were squinted and he was overweight, what had probably once been muscle had turned to fat. His brown hair was streaked with grey and he wore heavy chain mail, a fact that made me frown; this man must be rich indeed to have so much metal at his disposal. The man on his right was obviously a man-servant; he carried a short sword and wore plain brown clothing.

The man closest to me however, was different. My attention was mostly focused on him, though I cannot say why. He wore dark clothing and a black cloak with the hood up, keeping his face in partial shadow. He had dark black hair which he had tied back, high cheekbones and piercing eyes that surveyed the room intently; when his gaze passed over me I shivered. I got the feeling that he was not a man to cross. Don't get me wrong, none of them were, however the man in black struck me as especially perilous, not in the way the boar-faced man was; with strength of arm and weaponry, but with something more dangerous, cunning and intelligence.

I turned to see how Tarren and Evie had reacted to the forbidding trio, and was shocked to see Tarren shaking with rage, his eyes dark with unspeakable hatred.

"T-Tarren?"

He turned to look at me, his face grim, "We need to leave, _now._"

"What's wrong?" Evie dared to ask.

"Those are bad men, we have crossed paths before, and shall do so again, however now is not the time; we must leave before I am noticed."

I realised then that these men posed a very real danger to us, and could feel my heartbeat quicken, "What do we do?"

"Leave. Through the back door. Stay away from the centre of the room where there is more light, and we may escape unnoticed."

We quickly obeyed, I noticed with a detached sense of surprise that my hands were shaking; I was never one for bad situations, therefore I followed Tarren dumbly, keeping all my concentration of following him, trying to blank out the fear creeping into my mind. We made it to the door and crept out one by one, I was the last to go, and as I stepped through the door I turned my head for a last look. My gaze met the dark robed man who tracked me with his eyes until the door closed between us and I was left shaking, the whole thing felt surreal.

I turned to Tarren, "I think one of them saw me, we should hurry."

Tarren nodded, and strode quickly over to the stables, leaving us scrabbling to keep up with him.

He saddled up his horse and was about to leave when a whinny from one of the other stalls stopped him. A slow smile spread across his face.

"I have an idea."


	4. A Companion from the East

**Chapter Four**

A Companion from the East

* * *

_Fate eyed death distrustfully, "You shouldn't play the rook. It's unreliable."_

_Death shrugged, if such a motion was possible if him. "We shall see."_

_

* * *

_

I could just see that whatever Tarren had in mind was going to be dangerous and most probably rather foolish. I groaned.

Evie's eye's lit up, "Do tell."

"I see no need to pay for horses for you when there are three perfectly good ones waiting in these stables."

"That's _stealing!_" I hissed.

Tarren's eyes were cold, "Those men in there no more deserve their horses than they do their lives. Knowing the type of people they are, they probably mistreat their horses anyway."

Evie, always the animal activist gasped, "Then we _must _take the horses. We cannot leave them to be hurt; I could never live with myself!"

I rolled my eyes at Evie's melodramatic actions and stood frowning in an agony of indecision. "How do you know those horses are theirs?"

"Only Lord Theon and his cronies would be rich enough to afford them," Tarren told us.

I frowned, "Lord Theon?"

"Aye, that is his name. His two lackeys, I do not know. Now we must hurry." He began un-tethering two of the horses.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I whispered.

It was Evie's turn to roll her eyes, "Don't be such a sissy."

"Hush!" Tarren's voice cut through our conversation, ending it abruptly. He gathered the two horse's reigns in one hand and his own horses in the other and began leading them slowly out of the stables so they did not make too much noise.

"This is so wrong" I couldn't help moaning quietly, and received a smack on the back of my head from Evie in response.

Once we were safely out of the stables and a fair way from the inn, we mounted up, with some assistance from Tarren, and were soon quickly trotting towards the exit to the town.

Tarren bribed the guards to let us out, as officially no-one was allowed to enter or leave after sundown, and then we were on our way. I'd like to say we rode hard and through the whole night without pause, however in reality we kept a relatively slow pace as neither Evie nor I were very good riders and we stopped a few hours later after I almost fell off the horse soon after accidentally falling asleep.

We unsaddled the horses at the edge of a pine forest, tethering them loosely to one of the tree trunks so they could not bolt. I had ended up with a small black horse, though when I say small, it was still enormous to me, but in comparison to Evie or Tarren's horse, it was petite. I had been given the littlest horse as it was seemingly the gentlest, and because it was the only one I was not totally dwarfed by. Because of Evie's height, she took a large brown horse, more descriptive than that I cannot say, as I know little of horses, I could not even discern if mine was male or female.

Whatever they were, they were pleasant enough beasts and Evie quickly called hers Brownie, stunningly original as ever.

Once the horses were unsaddled and tethered, we lay down to try and get some rest. It was very different from the night before, as then we had been relaxed, warm and full. Now I was cold and scared, I was tired but I did not know if I could sleep; I kept running over everything that had happened, and puzzling over it. Who was the Lord Theon, and how did Tarren know him?

I turned over to look at Tarren and was surprised to see him awake, sitting up. His back was against one of the trees and he was puffing on a pipe, deep in thought.

At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was morning, and I was cold and damp from the dew.

I got up, rubbing my arms to try and get some life back into them. I had sometimes in my daydreams imagined sleeping out in the wilderness; however my fantasies had never contained stiff limbs, dampness and perpetual hunger.

I was irritable because of my bad sleep the night before, and therefore spared Evie no sympathy when Tarren poured part of his water gourd on her face to wake her up.

The fact that it was summer was my only comfort; it meant we dried out quickly and soon became warm; raising my spirits so much that even a breakfast of dry biscuits and cured ham couldn't dampen them.

We made better time because we all had horses and therefore rode instead of walked. We travelled continually East, passing through the forest we had stopped at to sleep, and on through more hilly terrain, the landscape becoming less and less inhabited as we rode on. I was not sorry to see the end of the forest, as it had been dark and enclosed, I was glad to be out in the open air again.

We rode on like this for five days, getting continually sorer from riding, picking up blisters from our new boots and getting thoroughly sick of dried meat, on the whole it can be said we were rather miserable.

However on the fifth day we came in sight of a small village, which Tarren told was called Kirkstall and that we would be stopping for the night there. It was a tiny place with only about twenty houses, and a single inn. Tarren bought some more food provisions to give us some variety, and then we went to get a meal and lodging at the inn.

As we slowly clopped along the main road towards the inn, I looked around frowning. The village looked dead; apart from a few children sword fighting with sticks outside one of the cottages, there was no sign of life. The inside of the inn was no better, a few men sat around drinking, an old woman was just visible in the shadows, and a woman sat behind the counter, absently drinking some kind of brown liquid.

Tarren looked around frowning, "When I passed through here a few years ago, this town was bustling with life. I wonder what has happened."

I frowned, "Nothing good I bet."

Evie punched me lightly on the shoulder, "Don't be so pessimistic, maybe they all just moved away to get more work in a bigger town or something."

I patted her shoulder, "Yes Evie, and your pet parrot didn't get eaten, he went away on holiday."

She glared at me.

Tarren shushed us, "try not to draw attention to us please. Let's purchase a meal and lodging, eat and then go to bed. I want to spend as little time here as possible; this whole place makes me nervous." He went up to the counter and paid, then went to find a table, choosing one fairly near the fire which was burning, as although the days were warm, with the absence of the sun at night, it became significantly cooler.

We sat around eating some kind of meat stew with coarse bread and a drink that Tarren told us was mead.

Our luck with inns however did not seem to be very good, as something seemed to happen every time we went in one. This time was no different; a tall slim man probably in his thirties, with a black beard and wiry hair tied back in a loose ponytail started walking determinedly towards us, the firelight causing his long sword to gleam brightly. Tarren tensed and put his hand to his sword hilt beside him as this was more surreptitious than his battle axe.

I clenched my hands under the table nervously, tensing my legs, ready to run if we needed to.

"Have you come from the south?" the stranger asked.

Tarren answered for all of us, standing as he did so he matched the man's height. "We have, if you travel there be wary, rebellion stirs there. And you…friend?" he spoke cordially, but his hand never left his sword hilt.

"I am from the east, but have not been there in many months. I am travelling back across the mountains to Camelot now; may I join your table?"

He spoke in a clipped, quiet tone, his voice heavily accented. He looked and sounded like he was from somewhere in the Middle East, but where exactly I could not say.

Tarren hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "Of course."

He sat and the tall man followed suit.

"Forgive my manners, my name is Zane."

Tarren looked surprised, "The swordsman?"

The dark skinned man inclined his head.

Tarren nodded, "I have heard of you, you are well famed as a fighter. I am Tarren the Bear, and this is Evangel and Nikita."

I frowned, apparently this man was well known, but this did not make me any less cautious of him.

Zane surveyed us curiously, before turning back to Tarren. "I have heard of you too, well are you known as a man of great strength and fighting talent. Tell me where do you travel?"  
The whole exchange was making Tarren uncomfortable I could tell, but he could not get rid of Zane politely and so answered his question. "We go to Camelot."

Zane's stern face broke into a smile, "you also? Then why do we not travel together?"  
I took an instant dislike to the man for barging in on our meal, asking too many questions and inviting himself along on our journey, he was too forward, and travelling with him would make it awkward to hide where we were from and why we travelled to Camelot.

However as there was no polite way to decline, Tarren was forced to agree.

And so we gained another companion, although rather unwillingly, we would be glad of the man before the end.

Just when I thought the night couldn't get any worse, it did.

The old woman who had been in the corner since we arrived shuffled over to our table and sat herself down.

I internally groaned, what were we, a magnet for trouble or something?

She surveyed us through rheumatic eyes, "you are strangers here?" she asked.

I noticed Evie looked sympathetically at her, Tarren was frowning, and Zane looked haughtily disgusted, making me dislike him even more.

"That is correct."

The woman nodded, and indicated the room with a wave of her gnarled hand. "What do you see?" she asked Tarren, who had obviously decided to humour her.

Tarren surveyed the room carefully, before answering, "I see poverty and unease, people who have learned to be wary…and I see fear."

The woman sighed, "Yes. You are right; this was once a rich happy place. Before_ she_ awoke."

There was a silence, before at last Tarren asked what we were all wondering, "Who awoke?"

"The dragon."


	5. Foretelling and Misfortune

**Chapter Five**

Foretelling and Misfortune

* * *

There was a totally stunned silence.

My mind went blank with shock for a few moments. Dragons were real? The legends of King Arthur's knights going on quests to kill dragons weren't just myths? And then the chilling thought, if dragons were real, what else that I had thought myths actually existed?

Tarren shook his head, "You are lying." He told the woman.

The woman bared her teeth, revealing yellowed gums and rotting teeth. "As true as I am Catella of Kirkstall, I speak the truth."

"To my knowledge, the last dragon was killed, three years ago." Tarren told her coldly.

"This may be the last, she has slept for many years, and has at last awoken, mad with fury, razing villages to the ground, pilfering our gold and killing our people."

Zane looked interested for the first time, "Gold you say?"

"Aye, innumerable wealth, enough to last ten lifetimes. They say her cave is full of it."

It was certainly a tempting thought, and I could see Zane was swayed by it, but then, she was just trying to tempt us with treasure to then get us to get rid of the dragon for her, that much was obvious. I didn't trust her anymore than I did Zane.

I looked to see Evie's expression and was surprised to see something akin to longing on it.

"Surely you don't want to die just for gold?" I whispered to her.

She shook her head, "No, but imagine seeing a real dragon!"

Catella's eyes took a misty quality to them and I absently wondered if she was on drugs.

"Not for nothing do they call me the seer of Ravensbrook. I can give you advice on your way, for a price."

I had always loved fortune telling, and much as Catella scared me, I was interested in what she had to say; as I got the feeling she was no fraudster.

Tarren sighed and flicked Catella a coin after glancing at our hopeful faces.

She turned to look at Evie first, staring at her, eyes wide. "Your path is not an easy one; your journey will be longer than you think before you see your home again. Do not forsake your friends; forgive them when the time is right."

We stared at her in confusion; her words made little sense, however eventually I would understand them.

I waited nervously as she regarded me, I had not expected a serious fortune telling, and now I was getting one I was afraid. What if her words had a ring of truth to them? I was afraid of hearing what she had to say, but more afraid of not knowing.

However she gave me no advice or information, just a warning. "Beware the knight in shining armour."

I wanted to groan, that was about as vague as you could get. Aside from the fact that there were hundreds of armour wearing knights in Albion, having not given me a time, place, or better description, her 'warning' meant absolutely nothing, unless she expected me to run away screaming whenever I caught sight of a knight.

I had no more time to ponder her words as she continued speaking this time to Zane. His prediction was no surprise; "do not in your lust for treasure forget yourself, if you pursue the treasure with no thought for others, you will lose your life."

It was a sugar-coated way of saying the man was too greedy and self-absorbed for his own good, something which was obvious from the moment he opened his mouth. How he became so famed and respected was beyond me.

Lastly, Catella turned to Tarren, and hers were the words that would stay with me the longest.

"And you, Tarren the Bear. I can say little to you. You decided your fate long ago. That time is approaching, though it is not upon you. However remember the value of your own life, do not act out of revenge and you may yet turn from your fate. Remember my words before it is too late."

This was the direst warning yet, I looked to see how Tarren took it and was surprised to see no fear upon his face, only resignation, as if he had heard her words before and was unmoved to hear them again.

Zane banged his fist upon the table, the first emotion he had displayed, "Be off old hag, you have your coin you no longer need to tell us your fake predictions!"

I supposed he was angry about her ruthless portrayal of his character.

She shrugged, "Think what you like. It is your life." She smiled, "and your death." Then she stood and shuffled away.

We all sat in contemplative silence, I simply sat in shock.

"She just made that up for money, didn't she? Didn't she Tarren?" Evie asked Tarren, an almost pleasing note in her voice.

Tarren, after a long moment of reflection looked up and replied "I think you would do well to heed her words, I think she was not some cheap imitation, but a real seer."

Zane shook his head, his face even less expressionless than it had been before, "She is simply a fraud, trying to get money out of naïve travellers. Do not be foolish enough to fall for her tricks." He stood and surveyed us for a moment, "I will meet you at dawn outside the stables."

Then he walked up the rickety stairs of the inn, to bed I presumed.

Throughout the entire time he had been at our table, he had not looked at Evie or me once, acting as if we barely existed, almost like we were not worth his time.

I'm usually a logical person who assesses things before making an informed decision, however at times I gain an instant decision which is very difficult to change; this was one of these times, I had taken a strong dislike to Zane, which he had done nothing to alter and this had only made me dislike him more.

Tarren seconded my thoughts; "I do not trust that man, despite his fine reputation. Keep a wary eye on him and think before you speak. I would not want him learning anything about our journey."

"I think he is honourable, just maybe a little shy" Evie as always tried to see the best in people.

I had to roll my eyes, "Evie, in your opinion Stalin was probably just misunderstood."

"Hey!" she protested, and then paused. "He was treated very harshly in his childhood…"

I retreated hastily up the stairs before she could start another empathy rant. "I'm off to bed. Wake me when it's time to leave."

Evie paused mid-sentence, "But he was a traumatised child! His father beat him-"

I fled.

I spent the first minute of consciousness the next morning thinking the world was coming to end, before realising it was just Tarren banging on the door. I stumbled out of bed and re-dressed distastefully in the clothing Anna had given me. I was feeling distinctly uncomfortable as the dress had not been washed once, and I had only scrubbed myself quickly in passing streams. I never thought I would miss showers so much.

We met outside the stables as planned, just as first light was casting its initial glow on the horizon.

Munching on bread from the day before, Evie and I clumsily mounted our horses, using a large block of wood to stand on and help us up.

Zane was already mounted and pulling the reigns of his large dark brown horse impatiently, obviously keen to go.

I was beginning to wonder why he had decided to travel with us at all, as it appeared he took no pleasure from our company.

Eventually we were all mounted and ready to go, Zane predictably took the lead, setting a fast pace for us all.

I pulled my horse closer to Evie's to talk to her surreptitiously. "Why do you think he even came, its not like he wants to be around us."

She shrugged, "Its probably less dangerous travelling in groups."

"Great. So he wants to use us." This guy just gets better and better. I absently wondered if next time we passed a village well I could 'accidentally' push him in and get away with it. Probably not I decided; subtlety was not one of my strong points.

With that plan out the window, I rode in silence for a time.

A week later, we came across a castle.

It was large and made from stone, arrow slits riddled the walls, and sentries patrolled the parapets. A red and white banner showing a charging stag on it flew from the ramparts.

Zane slowed his horse to a walk, "Let us shelter here for the night" he told us, trying to take charge once again.  
Tarren shrugged uneasily, "Not all the lords are trustworthy Zane, and therefore I suggest we pass this place by."

Zane turned his face tight. "If we can gain food and shelter, which my renown can do, then why pass it up, out of fear?"

I wrinkled my nose; although one of his few good points was he did not appear to be vain or boast overmuch, his passing mentions of how his stature gave him allowances annoyed me beyond reason. I suppose I was at that point picking up on every little flaw I could and hating him the more for it.

"It is not fear that turns my mind, but caution."

"Do what you will. I am going to get a good nights rest." Zane spurred his horse on towards the castle.

Tarren shook his head and followed, "That man is going to get himself killed one day through foolishness such as this."

I nodded; the man was not only unpleasant but also foolish. From what I had learned of the world we resided in, cautiousness is what saved a man's life, and foolishness is what took it. How Zane had stayed alive so long with the type of attitude he carried was beyond me.

The castle presided over a large flat plain which was broken only by a strip of blue winding its path through the flatland; a river I guessed, but how large I could not tell as we were too far away.

A small dusty path made its way up to the castle, and it was upon this that Zane was riding, followed by Tarren. Evie and I brought up the rear, still unable to ride at a fast pace.

We reached the castle gate as the moon was rising above the mountains far in the distance, illuminating the river silver.

Little did I know that it was to be last sight of the outside world for some time.

By the time Evie and I caught up, Zane was pounding on the door.

We waited for a moment, I felt the strange urge to flee and not look back, for a feeling of deep foreboding settled on me as we stood in the darkness, waiting.

With a creak and a groan, the gate door slowly began to rise, rattling from what I assumed was a chain system behind the walls.

The door opened to reveal a wiry weasel-like man pursing his lips in an ineffective attempt to look welcoming. "Greetings my friends, please enter. My lord would be happy for you to rest here awhile. We get few visitors and news of the outside world is always appreciated" He told us.

I was ready to turn my horse and gallop away right there although I did not even know how to ride at such a pace.

But before anyone could stop him, Zane rode into the gateway, and we had no choice but to follow.


	6. Unpleasent Lodgings

**Chapter Six**

Unpleasant Lodgings

* * *

_Death smiled as his knight came dangerously close to Fate's king; however she quickly moved it out of harm's way, and the dangerous game continued._

_Wisdom shook his head. "I don't like this at all. You're becoming too involved, both of you."_

_

* * *

_

I had thought that evil came in a simple guise, that the villains would be easy to pick out; fat, large, ugly and rodent-like, probably have an evil laugh and discuss his iniquitous plans with us.

Unfortunately evil comes in many forms, some easy to pick out, others not.

Regrettably this was one of the times when it was difficult to discern, and nothing like I expected.

We entered into a stone courtyard surrounded by the castle and its walls. Our horses were immediately taken away by a hovering stable boy.

Zane turned to the man who had let us in, "Who is the lord of this castle?" he asked imperiously.

"Lord Gabriel. And who are you?"

Zane took a sweeping bow, "My companion, Tarren the Bear, with his two charges, and I, am Zane the swordsman, you may have heard of me."

I glared, 'two charges' were the only recognition we got, Zane could not even be troubled enough to speak our names, if indeed he had even bothered to learn them.

The man stared at him coldly, "I have not."

Zane visibly wilted, reminding me bizarrely of a plant that had gotten too much sun. "Oh, I see..."

"But I have heard of Tarren the Bear, your braveness and fighting skill is well known. You and your friends are welcome here. Please, follow me."

We followed in silence, Zane taking up the rear, much cowed by the man's blatant disregard of him.

I got a kind of perverse delight from his embarrassment I am ashamed to say. I guess that shows my flawed character, I should I should have felt sorry for him like Evie, or tried to like him for who he was; but I just felt so annoyed by him that I could not. How could anyone possibly be so stuck up and continue through life almost unchallenged, and indeed thriving?

In a strange sense I was glad he had chosen our company for as much as I disliked his presence, travelling with us humbled him as he realised we held no awe of him, nor held in him in high respect just because of a fame and good name he brought with him. I was beginning to notice that while he stayed quiet around us, he spoke and boasted more around Tarren; almost as if he was trying to prove himself to the younger man; however he was doing just the opposite as Tarren disliked the man more and more. To truly show his worth, he would have to gain our trust.

We were taken into a long banquet hall; a troubadour stood in the corner attempting to entertain the people present who were seated upon a long table which covered the breadth of the room, at the head sat a man.

It's a stereotype I know, but I can't help but to expect a villain to look evil. Now don't get me wrong, I know quite well that's a stereotype, I know most bad people out there won't automatically look 'evil' or 'inhuman'. Each of them would have a story to tell, a childhood, their own triumphs and personal regrets; the things that have shaped them to be who they are. However on the other hand nor do I expect every person in I come across who means me harm to have a tragic story to tell.

The man at the head of the table was non-descript. He was middle-aged, with no unusual features; I could pass him on the street and not spare him a second glance. I don't know if most people are mind-readers but unlike what you usually read, I could see no 'icy coldness' or 'cruelty' in his eyes, his persona did not 'resonate evil', he seemed like an average guy. I see now the world isn't in black and white as I had thought, but confusing shades of grey that mingle so much that it is imposable to see where they end or begin.

The man in question stood, lazily brushing his shaggy brown hair back as he did so. "Who are you?"

Tarren and Zane bowed, not knowing what to do but assuming girls aren't meant to bow, I gave a clumsy curtsy quickly followed by Evie. I felt like I was five years old in ballet class again and hoped I hadn't looked as stupid as I had felt.

The man, Lord Gabriel I assumed, looked over us thoughtfully.

"I am Tarren the Bear, this is Zane the swordsman, and these are my two charges, lady Nikita and lady Evangel."

I felt an obscene urge to giggle; if we were ladies then Tarren was a woman; it held the same likelihood as Evie and I were nothing like ladies. We were typical teenagers, we were going through the 'I-hate-my-parents' and 'what's-the-point-of-life' stage, we spent half the time speaking in slang and using language which would make our parents cringe; the perfect stereotypical image of a modern teenager, not to mention we were dressed in peasant clothing and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a shower; there was absolutely nothing ladylike about us.

However, none of this seemed to be noticed by the men present, and it would stay that way I hoped, given we did not speak, considering that our accents were so different from anyone else's.

"I am Lord Gabriel, welcome to Castle Conisbrough. You may stay the night here travellers, as I wish to know news of the outside world, and well do I know who you are and the merit your friendship holds Tarren the Bear."

Tarren bowed again, "Thank you milord."

We stood in uncomfortable silence for a few moments until the man-Lord Gabriel, gave a vague wave of his hand indicating we sit.

He seemed nice enough, if a little pre-occupied and haughty.

We sat and soon had plates heaped high with food in front of us; I stared uncertainly at the large piece of flesh which sat on my place that had just be carved from an entire roast boar sitting on the table. It was accompanied by thick slabs of bread.

I nudged Evie, "Well this looks interesting."

She nodded looking faintly ill, "Roast Boar?"

'Be thankful they didn't give you its head."

If anything Evie turned greener.

I nodded towards Lord Gabriel, "He seems like a decent type, maybe a little conceited."

"I don't trust him."

I looked at Evie in surprise, this coming from a girl who had tried to tell me that Stalin was a traumatised and misunderstood child?

"Why not?"  
She shrugged. "I don't know. He just doesn't feel right."

I grinned, "How does he…feel?"

Ignoring the apparent dodgyness of the statement, Evie glared at me. "I don't know, just wrong. Like the person he is showing isn't actually how he is."

I frowned trying to work out what she meant, Evie had never stood out to me as an amazing judge of character, so I wondered how seriously to take her words, however on the other hand, she was my best friend, and I trusted her what she said.

"Should we tell Tarren?"

Evie flicked a glance over to him, "Look. I don't think he trusts him any more than I do."

I looked over to see him glancing at Lord Gabriel occasionally, his face closed off, his hand touching his s word hilt every once in a while, as if to reassure himself that it was there, and that he could reach it quickly.

Lord Gabriel turned to Tarren suddenly, a quick smile on his lips, "So tell me Tarren, what news from the land?"

Tarren shrugged his usually jovial face expressionless. "Not much to tell you milord; bandits grow more common along the roads, two more villages have been burnt in as many weeks further north the forces they say come from over Hadrian's wall from Scottas; some kind of rebel uprising it's rumoured. And Lord Theon is on the move again."

I started and raised my head, Lord Theon, the man who we had come across in the inn. Who was he that his name was made mention of here? What did it mean, on the move, why 'again'? And why was Tarren telling Lord Gabriel about him? I had heard of Hadrian's Wall, some defence that was built to keep the Scots out of England, which must mean Scottas, was in fact Scotland. How confusing.

Gabriel absently chewed on his fingernail as he thought, making me wrinkle my nose in disgust. "Interesting. Lord Theon you say? Where is he headed?"

"Towards Camelot it seems, though I cannot be certain."

"This way then?"

"If I am correct, then yes."

The fingernail chewing resumed, "Thank you, you have been most…informative."

I bit the inside of me cheek worriedly, Evie's words had made me nervous, and Lord Gabriel had just furthered that nervousness with his cryptic responses and sudden curiosity of Theon.

Apparently Tarren thought the same thing," What interest do you have in Theon?" He asked suspiciously.

"I rule this castle and the surrounding lands; I need to know when to guard them and when there is danger to them."

It was a good explanation but I was no longer so trusting of the man, I looked at his face carefully to see any hint of a lie upon it, and gulped when he raised his gaze to meet mine.

I dropped my eyes quickly, but it was too late.

"Who did you say you were again girl?"

Tarren quickly jumped in to save me, "This is Lady Nikita, and this is Lady Evangel. They are my travel companions."

"And can the ladies not speak for themselves?"

I bit the inside of my cheek harder, feeling the pain through a daze of panic. If we spoke he would immediately recognise us as foreign, which would bring up all kinds of questions we didn't want.

Tarren shrugged again, his face carefully blank, but his eyes darting to and fro, showing some of his panic. "I just thought it would be more proper if I spoke for them."

Lord Gabriel flicked his hand at us, "Speak. Tell me where you are from and where you are headed."

There was a moment as silence, my mind had gone horribly blank, luckily Evie answered for both of us. "We are from a small village in the north; Tarren and Zane are accompanying us to Camelot."

I winced, too much information, he would now want to know our purpose in Camelot.

But instead, the man just stared at us, a sudden look of keen interest on his face. "Your accents…I have never heard anything like it, where exactly are you from?"

I involuntarily clenched my teeth in fear, tasting the coppery tang of blood filling my mouth; I had bitten through the inside of my cheek.

"They are from a tiny village, known as Catterick my lord, but they have travelled round the land all their lives, and have picked up a strange accent from it." Tarren jumped in again, trying to save our identity as best as possible.

The man nodded, surveying us, the keen interest still evident in his eyes.

"I see. Thank you for the news. A servant will show you were you can sleep." Lord Gabriel stood and strode out of the banquet chamber, the troubadour immediately stopped playing, and the remaining people began talking amongst themselves.

I noticed Tarren relax slightly, it looked like we were out of danger.


	7. Nothing but the Truth

**Chapter Seven**

Nothing but the truth

* * *

A man seemed to almost instantly melt out of the shadows and appear at Tarren's side, ready to lead us away to our quarters.

We followed hesitantly.

"Was it me, or did his dismissal seem a little…sharp?"

Tarren nodded, "I don't know what he's up to, but we will leave first thing in the morning, before this mess becomes any worse." His glare burned a hole in Zane's back, making the older man turn to look at us.

"What is it you are hiding anyway?" he asked us.

Oh this wasn't good at all. I gulped.

Tarren glared at him, "This is not the time Zane if you had not noticed. Maybe I will disclose more to you once we get out of this nightmare you have led us in to."

It was an empty promise, and we all knew it.

Zane surveyed him coldly, his usual blank façade was uncanny; I don't think I had ever seen him show true emotion.

"This is a place to sleep, better than the wilds of the forest, we will depart early tomorrow and all will be well."

We were led into a small room which had four pellets laid on the floor, a lit candle, and an empty pitcher on the floor.

Zane turned to the servant, his face furrowed in repugnance. "These are servant's quarters!"  
The man shrugged, "Be glad of a roof over your head, and I suggest you leave at dawn." He closed the door behind him with a resounding thud.

I couldn't help but be a little dismayed, even the forest was better than this place; the room was small, stinking and dirty.

Still, as we laid down in the thick darkness after Tarren had blown out the candle stub, I couldn't help but be glad, I could hear the rain pounding on the roof, and the steady drip as it fell through from a leak in the roof somewhere, and although the arrow slit let in an icy draft, at least I was dry. I couldn't help but think; maybe the Lord Gabriel wasn't so bad after all.

That thought stopped pretty quickly after we had been forcibly dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night at sword point and hauled through the inky darkness until at last we were forced down a narrow flight of stairs, towards the very bowels of the castle. We were at last pushed into a frigid room, surrounded by bars, the door was locked behind us, and our unknown attacker's footsteps quickly retreated into the darkness, ignoring our shouts.

"Where are we?" Evie whispered finally, her voice echoing eerily.

Tarren shook his head hopelessly, the movement just visible in the dim light cast from a brazier on the wall outside our cell.

"The dungeons."

The thing about dungeons is that they're unpleasant; I guess they were built that way on purpose, however after three hours squatting on a dank floor covered in a strange substance which I couldn't recognise and was too afraid to look at properly. The prison was pretty secure, and so were the ropes they had tied about our hands. The whole situation was bad, and I was really beginning to hate whoever designed and built the prison cell.

Unfortunately for us I wasn't one of the strange people who carried knives in their shoes (wasn't that a tad uncomfortable?) waiting for the opportune moment to pull them out and cut their bonds free to escape whatever terrible plight they found themselves in; I was an average girl whose most threatening possession was a pair of nail clippers which were a thousand years in the future anyway.

In other words, we were screwed,

I had just devised a particularly nasty way for the dungeon's architect to die when the cell door clanged open and I was momentarily blinded by a brazier's light. Once my eyes had adjusted to the brightness I saw that Lord Gabriel was holding the brazier up, examining us.

Any last vestiges of hope that he had been unaware of our kidnapping faded.

He pursed his lips, his eyes lingering on me and Evie the longest.

"Now you will tell me where you are really from, who you really are, and Tarren, you will be delivered to Lord Theon in due course."

It was obvious now, he was not only aware of our capture, he was the perpetrator.

Tarren spat recklessly at Lord Gabriel's feet. "I will tell you nothing!" all pretence at calmness had left him with the mention of Lord Theon's name, leaving him with only careless rage.

The man nodded cordially, seemingly unaffected by Tarren's fury, "No I don't believe you will. But they might." He pointed one of his nail bitten fingers at me and Evie.

For a moment I forgot how to breathe, this could not be happening.

We were so dead.

Tarren fought like a berserker when they took us away, I noticed through a haze of shock that Zane did nothing but watch the scene, his face cool and detached, the same as always. My last sight of the room was Tarren being held at sword point by two guards, and Zane watching us being taken away.

We were pushed along a narrow passage and into a small room, not far from the cell we had been in before, but this room had thick stone walls and a heavy wooden door. There were three chairs inside, and to my surprise, none of the horrible torture weapons I had been expecting.

The guard who had taken us pushed us roughly into the room and went to stand outside, Lord Gabriel closing the door in his face.

"Sit." He told us.

Not knowing what else to do, we obeyed.

"How do you know Tarren, what do you know about him and who are you?" the questions were fired at us rapidly, making me flinch. The first two were easy.

Evie answered for us. "We met him at our village; he told us he could take us to Camelot. He appears to be and is known as a good man and a good fighter. We know nothing else about him."  
It was the obvious answer to give, with as little information as possible, keeping it simple, and keeping up with Tarren's story about where we were from.

I silently applauded Evie's quick thinking.

"Why are you going to Camelot?"

"To see the magician," I blurted out when Evie stayed silent, a desperate look on her face.

"Why?" he asked instantly, leaving me no time to think.

I spoke quickly, desperately, with little idea of what I was actually saying. "For medicine. I'm sick."

"Sick?"

"Really sick." I continued desperately, trying to ignore Evie's face of total confusion.

"I get…fits sometimes, I don't remember what happens, and it's really bad. We are going to see if the magician can help us."

I swore at myself silently. Great now he thought I had epilepsy, this night just got better and better.

There was a long silence as he stared at me. "You suffer The Fits?"

Oh that 'the' defiantly had a capital T on it I thought vaguely, from the way he emphasised it 'The Fits' was some kind of known and important disease here.

I nodded, totally unsure of what I was getting myself into.

He sat for another moment in contemplation, and then nodded decisively before standing. He walked over to Evie first, and did something so unexpected I cried out. He slapped her, and then while she was still reeling, he did the same to me.

The calm façade he had held was broken, through the haze of pain and shock I could hear him shouting, "Are you lying to me?"

"I swear, I'm telling nothing but the truth!" I noticed absent-mindedly that tears were rolling down my cheeks.

Maybe women from this time were weaker than from our world, but he seemed to accept our story readily after that, almost as if he expected violence to immediately provide him with the truth.

The slaps had been hard certainly, bad enough to leave a bruise. But painful enough to bring out the truth in me? I had gotten hit worse than that from my brothers; I was shocked, and cowed, but not defeated.

I guess women from this time were used to obeying, and men were used to being obeyed.

We were led back to our cell in silence, pushed back into the room and left with the sound of the key turning in the lock ringing in the air.

Tarren rushed over, his face pale. "Did they hurt you?"

I shook my head mutely.

I almost jumped out of my skin when Zane seemed to appear from no-where right next to me, and gently touched my cheek with his hand. "Then why is there blood on your face?"

I reached up to feel my cheek, still staring at him in shock. Since when did Zane care? Since when did he even talk to us?

"His ring…it grazed her." Evie told us quietly. I realised I must have been too stunned to notice at the time, and it was only now I could feel it stinging.

"Did it get you?" I asked absently.

Evie shook her head, and I turned back to Zane, totally bewildered by the night's events.

He took something from his pocket and handed it to me. I looked at it in astonishment. It was a handkerchief.

"Use it to stem the blood. When we get out you'll need to clean it so it doesn't get infected."

I put it to my cheek, still staring at him.

Evie broke the awkward silence, "I thought you hated us."

I saw emotion on his face for the first time then, and I couldn't help but be shocked.

It was shame.


	8. Escape

Chapter Eight

_Escape_

* * *

_Fate cursed as Death yet again thwarted her attempts and moved ever closer to her king._

_Death smirked. "Your move."_

_

* * *

  
_

"I must apologize. I have been an abhorrent arrogant fool." Zane said quietly.

I blinked. Wait, what was going on here?

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Tarren asked distrustfully.

Zane glanced at Evie and me shamefully, then turned back to Tarren "I did not know how to act in front of you, I didn't want to seem a fool for a had a name to live up to, you are by far more renown then me and I did not want you to think me inexperienced, and I thought the two girls of no consequence and did not care for them. I see now I made a bigger fool of myself for it. I have led you all into danger, I apologize profusely, and if we manage to leave here I swear I will part from your company and not bother you anymore."

Wow, he took his time but when he apologized it was certainly pretty serious. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the man, he looked so ashamed. However in my eyes he was not forgiven, we were still in a rather bad situation and it was his fault.

Tarren nodded, but his face did not soften, "your change of heart is appreciated, but your foolery has gotten us in a large amount of danger, and I cannot think of accepting your apology until we are out of this situation."

Zane bowed his head, "I understand. So we should escape?"

I rolled my eyes; I thought the answer to that was pretty obvious.

"Uh, that could help" Evie put in sarcastically.

"Can you help us escape?" Tarren asked him urgently.

"I thought I could maybe bargain with him before, but I see now that will not work, therefore yes, I can." He flicked his wrist and a small knife appeared in his hand, hanging from a piece of twine which must have been hidden further up his arm under his sleeve. I rolled his eyes, not exactly original; I was surprised the guards had not searched us and found it.

Tarren's eyes widened as Zane expertly slit his bonds and moved on to do the same to the rest of us.

My eyes narrowed, he could have done it before, but he had waited until we were _tortured _before he even considered trying to escape. He might be apologetic but he was still a bit of a bastard in my eyes. I couldn't help it, I don't forgive easily.

Once Tarren was free he went to look at the hinges of the door, absently rubbing his wrists where the rope had cut into his skin.

I felt like shouting at Zane, how could he put us through that? But I stayed silent, as usual not brave enough to speak up. Evie of course spent the next five minutes glaring at Zane and muttering under her breath, making no secret of her anger for what he had done.

Unfortunately Tarren soon discovered there were no magically loose bolts or corroded bars. The cell was as solid as the day it was built; we certainly wouldn't escape through the bars or door without aid.

I sat back down miserably, trying to ignore the putridity of the floor. "What do we do now?"

I wanted to go home so badly, leave all the filth and hopelessness behind, lie in my nice bed in my house and just sleep.

This of course was all totally imposable, so I quickly disregarded the thought for a more useful one. "Couldn't we overpower the guards when they come next?"

Tarren shrugged, "We have no weapons."

I'd forgotten that the guards had taken Zane and Tarren's swords and battleaxe when we were put in the cell.

I sighed. "Oh."

Evie patted my shoulder, "It was a good idea."

I shrugged noncommittally, "Not good enough."

We sat in contemplative silence for a while, I was desperately thinking for a way to escape but my ideas just got more unlikely as the minutes slipped by.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of footsteps. I looked up warily to see Tarren on his feet, peering into the gloom, trying to see who was coming.

Zane glanced up, "It's one of the guards." He muttered.

How an earth could he see that? Turns out he was right for a moment later, the guard who had taken me and Evie to Lord Darren and stood outside the door while we were interrogated, was standing outside our cell, one hand holding up a brazier to see by. He must have been in his late twenties, wearing the heavy leather and chain mail customary of Lord Darren's guards.

Tarren peered at him, blinded by the light. "Come to take us away again?"

The guard stared at us in silence for a time, not replying. Then to my surprise he began to speak. "I'm a good man you know. I was raised with manners, joined the guard to help keep my land safe, I'm a god fearing man and my mother taught me to always respect women. But in coming here, I've lost my own respect. I've seen what Lord Darren does down here, and in secret, and I have done nothing to stop it. I have let evil take its course, and I can no longer do it. I cannot live with it on my conscience, especially k

Knowing I will have sent to young girls to their deaths."

I looked up in surprise; did that mean he was going to help us?  
"Will you assist us in escaping?"

The man nodded, "I will."

Tarren clenched the bars with his hand in desperation, "Then hurry! I think Lord Darren will be back soon."

Zane frowned, "This could be a trick"

"It could hardly get any worse even if it is" Tarren glared.

The man seemed to pause for a moment, in indecision of what he was about to do. Then he pulled out a set of keys and put one in the lock, turning it with an audible click. He pulled open the door and took a deep breath. "Alright, now we must hurry. We will take the servants route to get you out of the castle."

"You are putting yourself in grave danger" Tarren warned

"I know."

Tarren nodded and did not question him again; we all followed him in silence out of the cell, stopping momentarily to pick up the weapons taken from us which had been put in a pile not far from our own cell. Then we continued on, taking a small narrow hallway, barely lit and deserted the guard in the lead.

I didn't dare begin thinking, just concentrated on being as quiet as possible and keeping up. If I let my brain begin thinking, I started imagining what would happen to us if we were caught.

Finally the narrow corridor ended with a small wooden door. The guard opened it and we found ourselves led through the kitchens. A large man carrying a platter of meat almost dropped it when he caught sight of us, but after a moment he simply turned away, as if pretending we didn't exist.

The guard hurried us along, throwing an explanation to us over his shoulder. "No one likes this lord anymore, especially not the servants. They rebel as subtly and often as they know how. If we cross any more servants, they should not be a problem. It's the guards I am worried about."

"Aren't they your friends?"  
"No. Very few of my comrades are left now, many of them disappeared when they tried to speak out against Lord Darren. The majority of them are mercenaries, cruel, cold and loyal to Darren as long as he continues paying them."

We crossed a small courtyard, hurrying to stay in the shadows of the already fading night. Had we really been in there so long? It felt like a matter of minutes, blurred and rushed into a confusing set of images I did not want to remember.

We reached a side door in the castle gate, and were surprised to find our horses waiting for us, held in the hands of a nervous looking stable boy.

The guard broke into a relieved smile. "Stephan, thank you."

The boy nodded, wide-eyed with fear, and without a word disappeared back into the stables.

The guard nodded, "The doors unlocked, and not guarded from the other side. Ride fast and hard, and don't look back. Lord Darren will send his mercenaries after you, but only for a day or so. You must not get caught. Good luck."

Tarren turned frowning, "Come with us. You will be murdered if you stay here."  
The man shrugged, "Maybe, probably. But I may be able to help others like you, and that is worth staying."

"He will know you helped us escape."

He shook his head, "The servants are already setting it up to look like you broke through the bars. Trust me, it's worked before, it will work again. Go before they find us!"

We mounted the horses, the wild adrenalin running through my veins speeding me to make the fasted mount up I've ever done.

The guard opened the door and we all filed out, the clop of the horseshoes on cobblestone echoing eerily and deathly loud in the silence before dawn.

I turned my head to look at the guard, he had saved our lives and I didn't know how to convey my gratitude. "Thank you." I whispered as we passed, and I will never forget the look on his face, haunted; full of the horror of what he had seen and done, and almost gratitude to us, for helping to redeem him.

Then we were out of the castle and kicked our horses into a fast trot, trying to avoid making as much noise as possible while leaving as fast as we could. I smiled, we were free.

Despite what the man had said, I looked back, just in time to see the guard closing the gate and disappearing into the darkness.

I felt a strange urge to cry suddenly, the man had saved all our lives, and I realised I didn't even know his name.


	9. Flight

**Chapter Nine**

Flight

* * *

That night is a jumble of bad memories for me; riding through the darkness without stopping, panic lending our horses wings as we rode as fast as we could, away from the castle, towards Camelot. We did not stop till dawn, and then only because the horses were near dropping with exhaustion and so were we.

We caught a few hours sleep before continuing on, eating as we rode, and putting as much distance between us and Lord Gabriel as fast as possible.

We never saw our pursuit, but Zane said they were hard on our heels, and although we could not know if he was telling the truth or not, Tarren seemed to trust his word a little more, perhaps as he did not have a logical reason to lie. Therefore we kept our forced pace for three days before Zane said we had lost them. It was then that I learned Zane had a sense unparalleled to anything I had ever seen or heard. He had sharp eyesight and an uncanny sense of smell, able to discern how long fires had been out, and even detect odours carried by the wind. He was trained in many things was Zane, mysterious, solemn man that he was. Another surprise we found with him was that he had a natural hand at healing, as he was the one that quickly and efficiently sewed up the cut on my cheek-while I cried and Evie almost fainted at the sight of it-and it was he that checked it for infection. Although he seemed a cold man, he was surprising gentle and kind when he checked my cheek.

The landscape subtly changed as we rode further south, the rolling hills disappeared into small tussocks and fields until at last it flattened out completely, forming a dry plain that seemed to go on for miles, ending with the outlines of purple mountains in the distance.

I peered into the distance, squinting my eyes from the light of the sun.

"How long will it take to get to those mountains?" Evie asked, voicing my thoughts.

Tarren shrugged, "roughly two days riding I would say."

Zane turned to peer into the distance, "One and a half."

We turned to him frowning. "What?"

"One and a half days" Zane said his face impassive.

Tarren stared at him for a long moment, and then nodded. It might not have seemed like much but it was. It was not just an agreement or a motion affirming his words, it was a nod of respect, of undertaking his words; it carried the weight of acceptance.

No words were exchanged on the matter, but we all knew; Tarren might not trust Zane yet, but he was forgiven for the incident with Lord Gabriel, and was more a part of our small group. He did not talk to us, but the sour expression was no longer fixed on his face so much, and he no longer regarded us with contempt, but discomfort, as if he did not know how to talk or act around us.

And maybe he didn't, after all, in these days, fighting men had little time for children, and if this was the case than Zane would have no experience dealing with people our age, because, lets face it, seventeen isn't fully grown, it's still considered a child and we certainly weren't mature enough at that stage to be called adults.

The plain we rode upon was mainly made up of heather, it was pretty enough to ride through but got boring very fast. After a quick game of I-spy by Evie and I which petered out rather quickly after we found out Tarren was barely literate and Zane's look of aloofness kept us from asking him, we then began to annoy the group with inane questions, our two companions at that point were thoroughly sick of us. At mid-afternoon the desolate landscape altered somewhat.; the otherwise flat ground become littered with mounds of earth, placed seemingly at random, with no marks or signs showing what they were, just tens of hundreds of hillocks jumbled together over the plain.

It was Evie that asked what they were; it seemed an innocent question, but the answer was far from it.

"They are cairns."

I looked up frowning. If all of these were graves, it had to be the largest number I had ever seen in one place in my life.

"Why are they here?" was Evie's next question after a moment of contemplative quiet. The silence hadn't lasted very long; with Evie it never did.

Tarren was the one who answered, "There was a war, about fifteen years ago, when I was still a child. It was when King Arthur's father Uther was still on the throne and the land was constantly in turmoil. A particularly vicious lord turned rogue and the king was forced to take action. Unfortunately all the other rebels stood behind this one lord and a war ensued, costing many lives."

"What happened to him?"

"The king? He was killed eventually though he was victorious in that particular war. After his death, King Arthur was found and eventually made king."

"Found?" asked Evie, continuing with her never-ending questions.

I tuned out. I knew the legends of King Arthur well enough to know how he came to the throne. The question I wanted to know was what happened to the rogue lord? And who was he? To me it seemed Tarren had purposefully avoided the question, telling Evie what had become of the king, when I got the feeling Evie had meant what was the fate of the rebel lord. This led me to the uneasy feeling that Tarren was keeping us in the dark with some things, and this made me nervous. What did he have to hide? Then again perhaps I was being paranoid, though with all I had been through I thought I had good reason for such paranoia.

Without the ability to ask Tarren, I puzzled over the outcome of the war and what it had done to the lord; from what little I had heard, rebellion was stirring again in the west, enough so that it was trouble for the king. I wondered if it had anything to do with this 'rogue lord', or if he had been killed in the war he had begun fifteen years ago. It seemed most likely he was dead, either killed in battle or executed. Yet I couldn't help but wonder.

The day dragged slowly by, it would have been warm except for the biting wind which blew at our backs, the flatness of the plain leaving it unprotected to the harsh breeze. Every once in a while we saw rabbits in the long grass, and some type of predatory bird far overhead, but except for that it was very quiet. It was unsettling after the rush of life we had come across everywhere else; the road which had contained a constant flow of traffic, the towns full of bustling people, even the country roads had farms, houses, or at least been plentiful with all types of animals. But this place was dead.

The sun eventually began to sink behind the far off mountains, which although meant we would soon stop, it gave way to the depressing realisation that the mountains looked no closer than they had at the start of the day which led me to the dismal conclusion that they _weren't_ any closer.

We stopped just before dark so that we had enough light to collect wood for a fire and tether the horses securely. Of course we soon found out that our first impression of the place being a desolate plain had been accurate; there was no wood to be found, nothing around by dry grass, a fire hazard if I had ever seen one. So we suffered the cold and dark in silence.

I was just drifting off, curled up in my blanket with the hard ground digging uncomfortably into my back when I heard the first wolf howl.

I jerked out of my restful daze and sat up, looking around nervously. "What was that?" it was a stupid question which I already knew the answer to, but I guess I was hoping Tarren would prove me wrong.

He didn't. He was already sitting up, his hand on battle axe. "Wolves."

"They're close." Zane told us grimly.

I glanced over at Evie to see her looking as worried as I was feeling. Her face had a pale, pinched look about it that I didn't like. It was as if the events of the past few days had taken their toll on her, she looked...tired. Her eyes held some measure of misery that made me wonder if mine also held that strange looked which gave me a desperate feeling of hopelessness, like all the world was against us and there was nothing we could do.

"What do we do?"

"Fighting them with our swords would be foolery at this point; we are not so desperate."  
Fighting them? The ludicrous thought had even crossed my mind. "But if we stay here, the wolves..." I bit my lip. "Will they hurt us?"

"If they find us."

I stared at Tarren, "what do you mean?"

He smiled, but it didn't look genuine, "This is a large plain. We may not even cross their paths."

As if in answer to Tarren's hope, another long howl echoed through the night.

Zane turned towards us, his face emotionless as ever. "They already have our scent."

I frowned. How could he know that? I hated to admit it, but Zane scared me. As a stranger he had turned up one night, joined us and put us through danger through what I could only call stupidity. Yet at the same time he seemed uncannily aware of all that went around him, he moved like a hunter, a killer. He appeared to have softened somewhat towards us, appearing more benevolent now. Yet there were still things I could not understand about him, things I wasn't sure I wanted to understand.

Tarren gripped Zane's arm, "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

Tarren looked around wearily. "They will fear fire."

I felt like I couldn't breathe, my chest not expanding enough air. Within a minute the situation had spun totally out of control, Tarren was suddenly trusting Zane explicitly without question, and it sounded ominously like we were about to fight for our lives.

The world appeared to be moving at an extremely accelerated pace, in which I was moving in slow motion.

"Fire?" I repeated stupidly feeling a new sense of panic set in; ludicrous really, there were wolves hunting us to try and eat us alive and here I was still shaking from my childhood fear of fire.

Evie threw me a quick look of sympathy, nothing could get past her it seemed; she always knew when there was something wrong. I offered her a quick smile, but it seemed dead even to me.

Evie cast her eyes around frowning, "There is nothing to burn."

I looked around, she was right; the plain was truly desolate, the only flammable thing around was the long grass we were surrounded in, and setting fire to that would be suicide, none of us would be stupid enough to.

"We must set the heather alight."

Or not. "Are you insane?" My voice squeaked at the end of my sentence, and I winced at the bluntness of my words. Panic tended to make me say things that I would never consider vocalising in a normal situation; then again I guess in a normal situation the need to say such words would never arise.

Tarren stared at me for a split second, "These wolves are hungry, and they have our scent. This is our chance to get away, if we do not it is likely we will die."

"Die?" how did this situation get so out of hand I wondered. This was so different from what I was used to. Back in my world, if there's trouble, call the police. Back there, you had people to rely on, here there was no-one but yourself. Things seemed to spin out of control faster here, and life was a lot more fragile.

"Could we not outride them?" Evie asked. I nodded desperately, it was a valid point right?

The two men exchanged grim glances.

"We could try."

Zane looked surprised for a moment, "You don't really think-"

Tarren shrugged, "We're out of options. We should never have stopped here."

Zane ignored Tarrens comment and went over to where the horses had been standing wide-eyed, fearful from the wolves howling.

I concluded that this meant we were going with Evie's plan for now. Thank god. We packed up what little we had and mounted, setting the horses off at a fast pace, leaving no physical trace of our presence behind. Unfortunately our scent must have lingered in the air, for we were easy to track and soon had the wolves closing in behind us; we must have been the only living thing in miles. Why the wolves were so desperately after our blood was beyond me, but I spent little thought on the matter as I was more pre-occupied with fleeing for my life.

And then they were upon us.


	10. The Plot Thickens

**Chapter Ten**

The Plot Thickens

* * *

There was little warning, just a horrific growl and then a massive force smashed into my horse, bringing it down in a second. I crashed down upon the hard earth, my mind unable to process what had just happened, however survival instincts cut in and I leapt to my feet, my visibility was poor, the scene before me was in almost total darkness, the only light came from the moon which cast a dull light upon the ground as it was half covered by clouds. Tarren had reigned his horse as soon as I had fallen, and was already on the ground, his awesome battleaxe in hand. Evie was just slowing her horse, attempting to turn it round, and I felt a surge of obscene happiness within me, for although it was not the time, I distantly noted her courage, and was warmed by it. I was blown from my thoughts as Zane pushed me to the side, a wolf snapping at the air where I had been standing a moment before. I landed for the second time in as many minutes on the ground, faceplanting in the dirt. With the taste of dirt in my mouth, I sat up quickly, expecting to see a salivating wolf at my throat. My eyes instead were met by Zane savagely holding the creature at bay, his sword twisting in some quick and deadly dance that my eyes could not hope to follow. I instead turned my eyes to Tarren and the great axe which he wielded with disturbing ease. I spun round helplessly, I could see little of what was going on, and neither I nor Evie had a weapon, we were helpless.

I looked around suddenly in horror, where was Evie anyway? I faced a moment of pure panic before spotting her, in the time I had been distracted, she had managed to wheel her horse around and was attempting to-

My eyes bulged; was she really trying to scare the wolves off by charging at them?

She was. God help us all.

To make matters worse, every time she actually got close to trampling one of the demonic creatures, she veered away yelling, though whether it was squeamishness or some kind of misdirected empathy for the creatures that would be just so typically Evie, I had no clue, and not the time to spare it a thought.

At any minute I half expected a miracle, a burst of light, a golden knight riding towards us to save everyone in a surge of glory, but there was nothing, only darkness and fear and blood.

My steed had managed to stand up since its fall, however mounting it was not an option, I feared if I tried I would simply fall over or it would bolt; I was no horseman and it was painfully obvious.

Our salvation came to us not in a blaze of gold, or upon fiery wings, but it came none the less.

Their approach was masked by the sounds of blades and cries, so when they came upon us, it was completely unexpected; indeed it took me a minute or two to realise they were there at all, but suddenly the tables were turned and the pack of wolves were slowly being beaten, as one by one they fell beneath steel blades, never to rise again.

It could have been seconds or hours that I stood protected by these warriors, seemingly so fearless in battle, and suddenly when I looked again the pack of wolves was diminished, near half their number down, and in a second as if by silent command, they were fleeing, growling and snapping, their blood-soaked muzzles nightmarish in appearance, but they were fleeing.

There was a minute of panting silence; I could not make out what was happening in the gloom, for the night was still very dark.

A torch was suddenly lit, and I found myself staring into the illuminated face of Zane, his hair soaked with sweat, face bloody. The torchlight threw everything into dim sight, and for the first time I could see everything.

Alex had at some point slipped off her horse, and was standing with her hand upon the bridle, a long jagged cut along one arm.

Tarren's huge battleaxe was covered in gore, and I could not look at it without feeling ill, Tarren himself was also covered in blood, and I found myself afraid of him. I too, had blood over my arms, fighting it seemed, was a messy business, not like it was shown in the movies; in the midst of fighting, blood sprayed, and none of us had escaped it. As for our saviours, there were two, they sat astride shaggy black horses, small nimble beasts which could manoeuvre through forests and mountains with ease, I would later find. One of them was fairly young, in his twenties I would guess, the vestiges of a smile was fading from his lips, the battle having seemed to have little effect on him. His blood incrusted fist clutched an equally stained blade, his hair was dark and he wore rough garments and looked like I would imagine a woodsman to look. The elder of the two wore a more serious expression, his features were similar to his companion, and I wondered if they were brothers.

Tarren broke what was fast becoming an awkward silence. "Thank you."

The elder of the two nodded, "We've been tracking those wolves for three days; we were nearby when we heard the fighting start and came to lend some aid."

Tarren inclined his head, "We are grateful, without you we would have been in grave danger indeed. I am Tarren, and these are my companions."

"I am Bastian, and this is Adrian. I am glad we were of use, however we cannot tarry, our quarry are now not far ahead, and we must pursue them for they will now be only more desperate for food, and are likely to attack some unsuspecting wayfarer."

Tarren raised his hand, "Good hunting friend. May we meet again under better circumstances."

"Fare well." And then they were wheeling their horses and speeding off to the north, quickly swallowed by the darkness.

It was by far the most abrupt and strange meeting I had ever had, little did I know that it would not be the last I saw of them.

Evie's voice broke the silence. "Is it alright if I puke now?"

We hunkered down and moved little that night, only moving downwind of the carcasses and the metallic tang of blood that hung in the air with sickening sweetness. I somehow managed to fall asleep, for I was exhausted and had slept little. We did not speak to the others of the events that night, for they were simply to complex and strange to, however Evie and I often discussed it quietly, when we thought the other two weren't listening. The mood was sombre and strange the next morning, we had dressed the wounds we had and moved on, I tried not to look back at the dark shapes of the dead beasts splayed across the ground, but as the plain was flat, they could be seen for miles, and it was difficult to ignore them. Pace was slow as Evie's arm was stiff and bandaged from her wound that it was even more difficult than usual for her to ride the horse. I groaned as her voice once more filled the air. "It hurts like a bitch," she muttered. Nice language Evie.

Our next stop of interest lay in the small town of Sheffield, at the foot of the mountains. I couldn't say exactly how long it took us to get there, the days began to blur into one another, I had no way of keeping track of time, no naming of the days, no calendars or watches. If asked what date it was, the most accurate response received would be 'winter' or one of the other seasons depending on the time of year. It must have been a week at least though, by the time the village came into view. I was glad of it when the sight met my eyes, for I was growing tired of dried meat day after day. Bread, even the brown coarse excuse for the stuff they had here, would be a welcome change.

"We are going to buy supplies here, to cross the mountains. An old friend of mine lives here, he will be able to give us all we need at a reasonable price."

I raised my eyebrows thoughtfully, any man Tarren classified as a friend must be a man of great worth, for from what I had seen, and friends were not something Tarren made lightly.

Zane however, being the antagonistic man he was, decided to voice his own opinion on the matter. "How do we know we can trust this _friend _of yours? How do we know he won't betray us?"

Tarren turned to glare at the proud man, "I would trust him with my life, and you will have to take my word on it."

Zane glared at him for a moment, and then dropped his gaze. It was obvious who was the leader here, however I couldn't help but think, whatever Zane had done to redeem himself in the past few days, Tarren better watch his back.

The village itself was fairly large as towns went; it had obviously been formed as a stop off point and supply place for travellers on the way up the mountains. There was a large market in the centre of the houses and the stalls sold mostly solid travelling food, warm winter clothing and other survival gear. However we passed it all by as we made our way to a small hovel apart from the others, the thatched roof was smoking slightly, and not all from the chimney.

I stared at the place slightly distrustfully, "We're voluntarily entering a smoking building?" I asked.

Tarren stared at me for a moment, "I am sure there is a good explanation for it." He answered before knocking on the door.

I rolled my eyes, "Why I am not surprised".

"Come in" called a pre-occupied voice from somewhere within the ominously smoking residence.

Tarren grinned and threw the door open, striding in. I eyed the place dubiously, however followed Evie through the door. I noted with interest that Zane seemed to hesitate on the threshold before following us in. Perhaps I wasn't the only one with doubts.

I did not have a chance to see the owner of the voice as there was a sudden bang and the room filled with black smoke, the smell of sulphur strong in the air. I heard from somewhere behind me the distinctive ring of steel and could only surmise that Zane had drawn his sword.

"Sheath that bloody weapon of yours before I impale you with it!" Tarren roared from in front of me, causing me to jump.

I blinked watery eyes through the fast disappearing smoke and surveyed the room with interest. It was a small stone house, much like the others we had seen, however in the centre of the room lay a large wooden table, upon which sat all manner of potions and powders, a large scorch mark was engraved upon the table, and it was smoking gently. Behind the table, still holding a pitcher which something explosive had obviously gone off in it, sat a young man. His hair might have been blond, but the soot over his face and hair made it impossible to tell. He grinned cheerily, "Well that didn't work." Then he caught sight of Tarren and leapt to his feet, "Tarren!" he cried, tripping up and practically falling into Tarren's arms.

Tarren, grinning madly, engulfed the man in a massive hug. "How have you been?" he asked pulling away.

The man grinned, waving his arm airily around the house. "I am well, back to my old experiments as you can see." He switched his attention to others, "please everyone sit down."

I cast my eyes about the room warily; old parchments, scrolls and stone beakers full of strange liquids lay on every surface.

"That could be a little difficult" Evie said drily.

However chairs were quickly cleared and introductions made. It turned out the man's name was Felix, and he had to be the most light-hearted man I had met so far in this world. He held none of the dour distrust others did, he seemed almost innocent from it all, which was strange as judging from the weapons hanging on his wall he was anything but.

"So," said Felix, settling himself in a chair after pouring us each a glass of ale, followed by a wink to Evie which made me grin. It didn't matter what world we were in, Evie still had the ability to make any young man notice her. The sad part was she didn't even notice she was doing it.

Following my small internal suicide upon the matter, Felix addressed the most obvious question. "Why are you here? I take it not solely as a social visit."

"Unfortunately not, we came here to purchase supplies to cross the mountains."

Felix sighed heavily. "You haven't heard then. I feared as much."

Tarren tugged his beard in puzzlement. "Heard what?"

"The dragon, she has woken."


	11. The Mountains

**Chapter Eleven**

The Mountains

* * *

It didn't mean very much to me. I mean, apart from the mind-blowing realisation that there was a live dragon probably out for our blood of course.

"A dragon." Evie broke the silence disbelievingly.

I glanced at Tarren, to see him almost ripping a chunk out of his beard with the tight grip of his fingers upon it.

"Uh Tarren?"

He turned to look at me.

"Uh your beard." He looked down uncomprehendingly for a moment, then gave a wan smile and realised his hair with bloodless fingers.

"So uh, this dragons a problem?" I asked struggling to work out what was going on.

Tarren let out a hoarse laugh, "You could say that, yes."

Zane shrugged, "So we avoid the dragon, I do not see the problem. I have crossed the mountains many times and never seen nor heard of this beast."

Tarren shook his head, "You do not understand. This dragon has been sleeping for decades, for it to wake now; well its timing could not be worse. With the rebel's stirring again, a dragon is all we need. Not to mention, the beast will be searching for me."  
"Searching for you? Why?"

"Because I killed her daughter."

I winced; this just went from bad to worse.

"Daughter. As in another dragon." Evie monotoned. Funny, she could be almost amusing when she was in shock.

Felix's trademark smile had faded from his face. "A long time ago a dragon lived in these parts, preying on travellers. It got so bad that a band of mercenaries were hired to destroy the beast. Tarren was one of those; almost all of them fell that day. I was no mercenary, simply an alchemist, travelling with Tarren. I used an explosive device I invented to destroy the creature, but not before it ripped a chunk out of Tarren's arm and left but five of us standing."

"And now her mother has woken." Tarren said grimly.

"So...she'll be waiting for you?"

"Yes."

I frowned, "But how will she know it was you?"  
Felix answered for Tarren, "She will have smelt his blood from his wound in her daughter's lair, dragons are unique in that once they have hold of a smell, and they will hunt their quarry until it is dead. She will smell him half a mile away."

"So basically, we're screwed." Evie muttered.

"Can we go around the mountains?"

Tarren shook his head, "It would take far too long, and we would be caught in the depths of winter, too dangerous for such travelling."

"So what do we do?"

"We go through the mountains" Tarren said resolutely.

I blinked. Tarren didn't strike me as a stupid man, hot-headed, illiterate maybe, but not stupid.

"But if you do the dragon will kill you."

"We will have to risk it. She will sleep during the day, as is the habit of all dragons. We will slip past her lair during the day, and keep a fast pace until we are far enough ahead that she will not smell us. The likelihood of her flying in our direction after that is slim, she will go towards the villages we have been travelling through if she is looking to wreak destruction, over the mountains lies only Camelot, and she would not dare attack there."

This was so crazy I could not even put my head round it.

Here we were, calming discussing how large a chance there was of a giant fire breathing, winged, fanged and clawed killer lizard finding and murdering us. Welcome to my life.

Felix shook his head and grinned, "Well, I suppose we only live once. When do we leave?"

Tarren stared at him for a moment, something akin to hope adorning his face, "You will go with us?"

"Well someone has to make sure you don't get lost."

The man did not exactly set me at ease, but he seemed a decent and kind person, and would certainly provide comic relief if nothing else.

Tarren clapped him on the shoulder, "It will be like the old days."

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment," said Zane not sounding sorry at all, "But I thought we came here to buy supplies."

"So we did" replied Tarren agreeably, ignoring Zane's usual lack of civility.

Felix waved a hand vaguely at the assortment of objects in his home, "Oh help yourself to whatever supplies you need"

Tarren shook his head, already reaching for his money pouch, "We would not rob you Felix. Please accept the money"

Felix shrugged, "If you wish, but at least take it at a decent price."

"I expected nothing less."

I was suddenly glad of the horses we had, as the amount of equipment Tarren was piling up was quickly becoming large indeed. Aside from blankets and thicker clothing, he gathered spare flint, long lasting food supplies, saddlebags, water skins, solid staffs to navigate through the snow, long lengths of rope, snow boots made out of some kind of furry animal skin, burnooses which I just knew would make Zane look even more middle eastern, the thought made me stifle a smile. Tarren also gathered maps of the mountain paths, skins which wrapped round our faces to prevent frostbite, gloves, and weapons.

He picked out four long knives. One, he slid through his belt, another he handed to Zane who examined it for a moment, before causing it to disappear beneath the folds of his clothing with a practised flick. And the last two, Tarren handed to Evie and me. They were not swords, but it would have been making light of them to call them daggers, they were almost like short sabres or long knives perhaps. The correct terminology escaped me; however I did know they were wicked sharp, and without the sheaths on, potentially lethal. I also knew I had absolutely no idea how to use one.

I reflexively clutched the hilt awkwardly in my left hand, not quite knowing what to say.

Evie solved the problem for me, "Uh, Tarren? This is really kind of you and everything, but neither of us has ever used a knife before."

Tarren nodded, "I know, and I don't expect you to have. However the incident with the wolves got me thinking. I do not what to be in another situation like that where you cannot defend yourselves at all. We are living in dangerous days, and we cannot afford to have you completely defenceless. I do not expect miracles, but I will at least teach you the basics on how to defend yourself, although I hope it will never come to that."

Although they were sobering words, Evie and I grinned at each other. Can you honestly say as a child you never dreamed of heroically wielding a sword masterfully, defeating your enemies in a blaze of knightly glory?

Ok so maybe that was just us, but still, it was somehow exciting, although frightening at the same time. Holding the cold metal in my hands, it reminded me of how real all this really was.

This was no dream, we were living in this world, and we could also die in it.

Felix's home was too small to house us all for the night, therefore after purchasing the supplies we needed, we headed off to the small tavern situated near the centre of the town, with the plan to all meet up and head off up the mountains early the next day.

The inn was fairly pleasant as inns went, it was made entirely from timber, which struck me as a bit of a fire hazard, however it was warm, and fairly clean comparative to the other places we had stayed in.

However, as we had seen from the beginning, taverns were hardly a place for girls to stay in, unless their business was that which was carried out in the night and less than savoury. Therefore we ate our meal quietly, and made our way upstairs to sleep.

The sheets were full of bedbugs of course, which was torture and had made me learn to appreciate sleeping outside; however the mattress was softer than the ground, and I soon fell asleep.

We headed out early the next morning, munching on tough bread as we led our horses out of the town.

"Oh what I wouldn't do for pizza" Evie murmured dreamily.

I could almost feel myself turning green, "Dude. Never let me hear pizza and breakfast go in the same sentence again".

It was funny, although we must have spent over a month in this time; it seemed like far less, Evie and I still spoke the same way we always had, which often proved confusing for others. However the way of life was becoming less strange to me, and I was finding myself more and more comfortable in the environment I was now in. It's strange how fast and easily humans can adapt to situations. It wasn't that I didn't miss home, or was afraid of how we would get back; I had just somehow automatically trained my brain not to think about it. I thought about each day as it came, and blocked out the future entirely. Although we had not spoken of it, I'm pretty sure Evie did the same thing.

We started out following a fairly broad and well used path, Felix in the lead. The village had not been fair from the foot of the mountains themselves; therefore it wasn't long before the ground began to slope gently upwards.

It was a pleasant enough ride, each of us wrapped in our own thoughts or engaged in conversation with one another, I was horribly sore from all the riding which my poor abused body did not seem able to adjust to, however it was beautiful weather and the scenery was not exactly hard on the eyes.

The mountain rose ahead of us like dark sentinels, reaching up to touch the azure sky. The snow was far above us; however the temperature was constantly dropping, even as the wind picked up. Ahead of us lay a pine forest, startlingly green against the earth and rock. The plod of hooves and calls of birdsong was pretty much the only sound around, behind from somewhere in the village the already fading sound of a blacksmith at work echoed dully in the air.

It was no-where I had ever pictured myself to be, but it was beautiful, and for the first time, I felt thankful in some way that I had ended up here, to be in this moment.

My reflection was broken by Evie riding up beside me. "Penny?" she asked.

I grinned, it was a strange tradition we had made up, back in the old world. The expression 'penny for your thoughts' shortened to just the one word. We often asked one another the question, though whether out of true curiosity or the desire to annoy the other was anyone's guess.

My smile faded, "It's beautiful here."

We surveyed the landscape in silence for a moment, Evie's face somehow solemn. "We would never see this-back home." She muttered, voicing my thoughts as usual.

It was strange, we hadn't really talked about what had happened, how we would get back, or what we would do when we-or if, we did.

I guess it was long overdue then, that we did.

"How did we come here?" she asked softly, and I knew she didn't mean about how we fell through the screen. She meant why, and it wasn't a question I had an answer for.

Of course there were only so many options that I could think of, and none of them really made sense to me. "Magic, a black hole, god?"

"Black hole?"

"Rip in time space continuum or something like that" I muttered vaguely, I had dropped science when I was fifteen, and it wasn't like I had any real idea.

"But it wouldn't make any sense, black holes are supposed to exist in space, not a cinema."  
"Alright, so that rules out any vaguely logical explanation I had. And I am so not keen on the god idea. The thought of someone looking down and making us do stuff just creeps me out. So magic?"

Evie raised her eyebrows.

I shrugged, "Hello? Dragons? Don't scoff at magic my friend."

"Ok, just say for one second it was magic that somehow, right at the very second we went in there, changed the screen into a portal, then subconsciously convinced me to touch it, and placed a woodcutter here, in exactly the right place, at the right time, and then told him to pull me through."

"Alright, so you're saying it wasn't chance? You're saying we somehow got chosen to go through, for reasons unknown. Like...fate? But even supposing that was true, which it so isn't, why the hell would we have gone through? What can we do?"

Evie shook her head, "If I knew that, I wouldn't be sitting here."

We stopped at an empty Sheppard's hut for the night, not bothering to light a fire as we had precooked and dried food with us, although it was none to inviting to actually consume. I eyed 'dinner' distrustfully, as Tarren held out a bunch of hard biscuits invitingly, I wrinkled my nose; this was our fare for the night?

They were the equivalent of what we would call travel tack I think, but they resembled pieces of wood.

"They are not as bad as they look, and they are very good for long journeys, they help keep up energy, and last forever."

"They only last forever because no-one will actually eat them" Felix muttered out of the corner of his mouth, and then yelped as Tarren threw one of the offending objects at his head.

We travelled on in this way for about two days before we reached the snowline.

Neither Evie nor I had seen snow before, and we wasted a few minutes studying it in delight, before bombarding everyone with snowballs, although Felix was the only one to retaliate. However we soon grew tired of the icy, slushy stuff which hampered our travel, slowing us down and leaving us in a constant state of cold and damp. We soon donned all our extra clothing, but not even that was enough to keep us entirely dry or warm. The next few days were miserable, slogging through the snow, leading our horses up the now thin and winding goat path which proved too steep for our horses to navigate with us on their backs.

It was just beginning to seem that our journey up the mountain would be fairly uneventful, when without warning; we rode straight into a group of bandits.


	12. The Dragon's Revenge

Alright, im rather proud of this chapter, not for its content, just cos its over a page longer than my other chapters. So there ya go, good reason for delay.

Also cos of exams and I just discovered a tv show called 'the Mentalist' and got myself instantly addicted. oops...

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and please review i'm feeling a bit lost on the direction in which my story is taking and wondering if it's going downhill..feedback positive or negative (constructive criticism not flaming people!) would be awesome :)

Arrow.

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Chapter Twelve

_The Dragon's Revenge_

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_

"_You're losing."__ Destiny said to Fate._

"_Brother, do not interrupt." Fate told him, looking intently at the chess board._

"_Sacrifice one of your pawns. It will stop you losing the queen so early" Wisdom advised._

_Fate sighed, "I do not intend to lose the queen at all."_

_Destiny shrugged,, "The decision may be out of your hands."_

_

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_

Looking back, it was stupid. None of us were paying attention; we had been lulled into a false sense of security by the deserted mountain path. However it was as we rounded a turn of the trail that we saw them a few hundred metres ahead. It was I suppose for their number a fairly small amount, only about ten or fifteen, they were probably a scouting group, which would explain their silent approach.

We stared at each other in total surprise for a few moments, and then the bandits spurred their shaggy horses towards us, drawing their array of weapons and shouting.

Maybe it seemed a little presumptuous to instantly name them as bandits; however their rough clothing in disrepair, motley array of weapons and general appearance as well as their reaction to us left little doubt. We had no chance of fleeing or of fighting such a large number. In one bewildering second we were surrounded and disarmed.

"Please" Tarren attempted to reason with them, even as his hands were being tied behind his back. "We hold no grudge with you; we just wish to cross the mountains. We are of no use to you, let us go free"

I knew, even before anyone said anything, Tarren's argument was a lost cause. These were not men that could be reasoned with.

"It's not up to us what happens to you. We will take you back to our camp and see what our leader decides."

I stifled a groan. Our lives just kept getting worse.

Our hands were all bound and our horses tied together, so they could not bolt and nor could we. It was demeaning, made it difficult to ride without falling off, and left us with little choice but to follow the bandits, up along the mountain pass from the direction the bandits had come from.

The ride was fairly quick, probably taking only about ten minutes to reach their camp.

It wasn't a very big camp, maybe fifty people, to my surprise it wasn't only made up of warriors, but also of women and children. They too, were dressed in an assortment of rags, the children hollow cheeked and quiet, watching us with wide eyes as we rode into camp.

We were taken to a large tent in the centre of the camp and made to wait outside; I guessed the leader was inside, turned out I was right, as a few moments later, a large man exited the tent. He was better dressed than the others, though not by much. His dirty blonde hair brushed his shoulders, and his eyes were a piercing green.

"My name is Eynon ap Owen, I am the leader of this camp, and until I decide what to do with you, you shall be captives here."

I frowned, it could be worse I suppose, he could have just killed us immediately. His name, from being the history geek I was, meant he was probably Welsh, his given name Eynon, and his father's Owen. It told me little about his character however, and was fairly useless information.

Tarren shook his head angrily, "We are travellers, crossing the mountains, we mean you no harm, let as pass and now ill is done."

However the man-Eynon, shook his head, "Do you take me for a fool? You and him-" he jerked his head at Zane-"are obviously seasoned warriors. I let you go and we will pay for it."

Tarren shook his head, "I give you my word we will not bother you if you let us free."

Eynon shook his head, "I am a reasonable man, which is why you are not already dead, however I cannot risk allowing you to go free; right now, I do not know what will become of you, I am undecided what to do with you, and so for now you shall be captives."

He jerked his head and we were dragged away, our protests falling on deaf ears.

Our hands were kept tightly bound behind our backs, leaving us little chance of untying the knots ourselves; they tied them tighter than they looked in the movies. Although our hands were bound, we could walk freely around the tent we had been placed in, however it did us little good as sentries had been posted outside. We had not been gagged, for which I was thankful for, however I supposed there would have been little point, it was not as if there was anyone who would hear us should we shout for help.

Evie sat down on the dirt floor with a thump, "Well now what?"

"Now we wait. There is little we can do, except wait for an opportune time to escape, or hope this Eynon is merciful." Tarren told us gravely.

"Great," a felt a near hysterical laugh bubble up in my throat, "You know, it's funny, before all this happened, I actually _wanted _an adventure. Well you know what? I take it all back, I would be perfectly happy to be safe at home, minus the bandits, near death experiences, and lack of personal hygiene!" the last one had little to do with anything, but at that point I was past caring, and anyway it made sense in my head.

"Oh, and there I was thinking you were having such fun." Felix said, summoning up a grin.

Zane sighed, "If you have all stopped wasting time, shall we leave?"

"Sorry no can do," Evie said sarcastically, "I'm a little tied up right now"

I fought back the obscene urge to snort.

Zane waved a piece of rope around airily, "What you mean this?"

Smug bastard.

"Oh so sorry us mere mortals cannot compete with your awesomeness." Snarled Evie, Zane's usual prickish behaviour getting to her.

That time I really did snort.

Tarren sighed, "Zane, commendable as that is, how do you propose we sneak out of the middle of the bandits camp in broad daylight?"

"We wait until nightfall and then make good our escape."

I groaned. It was going to be a long day.

Why does everything happen at night?

Every daring escape plan, heinous murder, or exciting adventure takes place when the sun goes down.

Maybe it's because it's harder to get spotted. Personally I think there's something in the air which causes people to act differently.

Then again, that's probably just me. Normal people don't get drunk on night air.

We waited until it had been dark for a fair few hours, and activity in the camp had died down. It was almost silent; however I knew better than to believe our sentries were sleeping.

Once Zane had done his special trick of untying the ropes from our hands, he was able to retrieve a knife hidden in his boot and begin cutting through the back of our tent. The tent cloth was made of tough leather, and it was slow going. However eventually he had made a slit big enough for us to slip through and one by one we exited our prison. It almost seemed like we would escape unscathed, but unfortunately we had forgotten Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

I wish I could say it was only an expression, but it would be a blatant disregard of the truth, for it was just as we exited the tent that the dragon decided to attack.

How convenient. Note. Sarcasm.

The dragon arrived in a roar of golden fury.

You think you can imagine what a dragon looks like. You can't.

A great golden creature stood in front of the camp, fairly glowing with light. It wasn't squat and ugly like you would imagine, but beautiful, graceful; all lines and smooth curves. You could tell the creature was a she, don't ask me how. She was the most frightening and beautiful thing I had ever seen.

The bandits apparently, did not think so, as they were armed to the teeth and attacking her with the viciousness brought on by utter terror.

I guess it would sound better if I said we charged at the dragon heroically, defeating her in mortal combat. But we didn't.

While she was pre-occupied with the bandits, we ran to our horses, with our weapons and saddlebags still attached to them, and fled.

We held no ties to the bandits, they would most likely have killed us anyway, so none of us planned to die on their account. With the screams of dying men and the deafening roar of the dragon behind us, with the golden glow of molten flame from the creature warming our backs, we fled up the mountain pass without looking back.

And maybe we would have gotten away, if the dragon had not caught Tarren's scent.

Murphy's Law remember?

There was a noise not unlike a thunder crack, and then she was in front of us.

Only one thought filled my mind as I saw the beast.

Dragon's weren't supposed to exist.

It didn't matter that I had seen the creature from afar, that I was gradually beginning to accept that magic did exist, at that moment I was filled with utter, absolute disbelief.

Then came the fear. It was apparelled to anything I had felt before; this wasn't the twist in your stomach you got before saying a speech or the sweaty palms and shaking before telling your parents something really bad, this was a fear so intense I couldn't think, couldn't move. My limbs were locked up and I could feel sweat trickling down my back, but could do nothing to remove it. The usual twist of fear in my stomach felt like someone had plunged a poker into me and I was oddly surprised I wasn't bleeding to death right there.

This wasn't fear, this was terror.

And then she spoke. She was a sentient being of course, however until then I had not been aware dragon's possessed human intelligence; and it just made the situation more out of control, even more wrong.

Her voice was strangely musical, I would have expected it to be grating and terrifying, yet it held a lilt to it and was oddly captivating.

"Human you dare to come back after what you did?"

She knew. She knew Tarren had killed her daughter.

We. Were. So. Dead.

Even through my haze of terror, I was still in absolute awe of the creature, of her scales which rippled in an impenetrable wall of armour, of the spikes which adorned her back and tail, looking wicked. But most of all, of her face, the great burning eyes which surveyed the scene with such cruelty, her snarling mouth which almost made my heart stop, her teeth were beyond comprehension; massive, sharp, deadly.

Tarren, his battle axe drawn, stood his ground, his bravery like nothing I had ever seen or imagined.

"Then kill me!" he roared, challengingly.

The dragon took a massive swipe at him which he narrowly avoided, his battle axe clanging against her scales as if he had just hit a steel wall, which he might as well have done for all the damage it did her.

I couldn't help it, I snapped. The terror overwhelmed me and I ran, knowing Evie was right behind me.

Fear is a dangerous thing, it makes you lose your logic, cloud your senses and most importantly, stop thinking rationally. When you are held in the grips of terror, all you want to do is get away from whatever is causing the feeling. And that's why you run;

Even when a part of you knows it's stupid, or cowardly, or pointless. You still run because terror has taken over your mind so completely, you are incapable of doing anything except running.

It wasn't until I nearly knocked myself out on a tree a few moments later that I came to my senses. I stopped suddenly, but smacked into the branch anyway as Evie ran straight into me from behind.

I clutched my forehead and staggered round swearing for a few moments before the pain alleviated somewhat.

"What do we do!?" I screeched.

Evie shook her head gasping for breath, "I don't know! Niki I'm so scared."

I had tears running down my cheeks but I wasn't paying attention to them. "We can't leave them"

Evie swore. "We have to be able to do something; we come from the future for god's sake!"

I froze, "Your pocket torch!"

"What?"

"It's dark, bright light will be blinding at night. If we shine the torchlight directly at the dragon's eyes, she will be momentarily blinded and Tarren can kill her-or something." I was speaking so fast I wasn't sure Evie could understand me, but evidently she did. "It's in the saddlebags, with the horses."

"Then we have to go back" I was crying again, and I knew it was pathetic and disgusting, but at least we were both doing it.

It was dark but we had no trouble finding our way back; just run towards the fire and the screaming. Oh yeah, great idea.

We stumbled back, skirting the dragon as wide as possible; I chanced a glance and saw Tarren and Zane were twin blurs of fury, attacking the dragon who swatted at them as if they were flies. Felix was crouched to one side, desperately going through his saddlebags. I did not waste time trying to work out what he was doing, but followed Evie's lead towards the horses. They had long since bolted from their original spots near the dragon, however the ropes still tying them together had kept them going far; only a few hundred metres. Therefore it was fairly easy to find them and relieve the saddlebags of Evie's trusty pocket torch which she had thankfully kept safe during our journey.

All of this of course took place in about a minute, however it felt far longer. We crept closer to the dragon, we had no chance to warn Tarren about what we were going to do, we did not even know if it would work, but we had to try.

We flicked the shining torch right into the dragon's eyes.

She roared, batting at her face, blinded and in pain from the intense light. For once in my life I was glad Evie had bought a high powered torch, however much I had laughed at her nerdy excitedness over it at the time. Not understanding what had happened, but taking the opportunity to use the distraction, Tarren and Zane attacked the dragon with renewed vigour, finally managing to get past her armoured skin and score deeply into her softer underbelly.

Unfortunately, that was when the dragon looked up and caught sight of us with the offending light. Maybe it hadn't been such a great plan after all.

However, it seemed for once, luck was on our side, for even as the dragon opened her mouth to blast us to hell and back, Felix finally finished whatever he had been making off to one side, and threw a small leather bag of unnameable ingredients straight into the dragon's jaws.

The bag had been small, but the ensuing explosion was not; whatever had been in the bag had been powerful, as it exploded with a resounding boom, destroying the entire lower face of the beast completely, and burning deep into her chest.

She let out the most horrific noise I have ever been privy to, it was what I guess people call a death rattle, but it was as if she tried to scream but couldn't, instead letting out a long low moan.

And then, just when I thought it was all over, everything started happening at once; the dragon's spiked tail whipped outwards in her death throws, catching Felix full on and sending him flying, the spikes ripping into his stomach with frightening force. At the same time, she turned what was left of her ruined face towards us, her still brightly golden eyes meeting mine.

She spoke something, but in the confusion of the night, her words were lost, however her gaze alone held me in her power. I felt trapped and frightened, I could not tear myself from her eyes, and I felt a cold pit forming in my stomach as our gazes refused to break.

And then it was over as her eyes dulled and she fell still.

I was surprised to find myself shivering, however put it down to shock and soon forgot about the strange incident as my attention was grabbed by Tarren sprinting to Felix's side.

"Oh no," I whispered, Evie answered with a swear word.

We stumbled towards the two men in silent horror.

Tarren was kneeling by his friends side, his battleaxe forgotten beside him, Felix was lying staring face up at the uncaring night sky.

It was obvious when we got closer that the force of the dragon's blow had almost torn him in two. I turned away and was violently ill, followed a moment later by Evie.

Tarren grabbed Felix by the shoulders and shook him, ignoring how his head lolled with frightening limpness. "Felix" he whispered, still shaking him as if to wake him up.

But he did not reply; there were no smart retorts forthcoming, no answering laughter, his eyes were dull and empty.

There would no dramatic goodbyes, no last words. Felix was dead.

* * *

Ok i'm sorry Felix died.

But I knew as soon as I wrote him in he was going to die.

Expendable character, sorry.

And I warn you, more people will die later on. :D

Review...you know you want to.


	13. The Blizzard

I am deeply sorry for this long delay, my exams were really rather awful and I got quite sick. typical. luckly I'm better now, so I'm back on track. This chapter is slightly longer to make up for the delay, but i am not happy with the quality of my writing, so sorry if it doesnt keep up to standard.

Also on complaints about my main characters somewhat use of whining ect, its because she aint perfect, and shes reacting to a situation which would be very hard to deal with.

Also yes, 'Mort' is important to the larger plot of things, and no that isn't his real name. *cackles*

anyway, complaints, reviews and ideas appreciated.

Arrow.

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Chapter Thirteen

_The Blizzard_

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_Fate glared as Death took her pawn._

"_You'll pay for that one." She quickly took one of his knights in retaliation._

_And somewhere in the world, to the great shock and delight of his servants, Lord Gabriel dropped dead._

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_

There was no joy in this victory.

The bandits, what was left of them anyway, had fled down the mountain, heading where I do not know. They left little behind; the smoking remains of their tents and a few campfires all that were to show of their now destroyed camp. The dragon's massive body lay splayed across the ground, the once bright golden scales now dull. Tarren had not spoken since the death of Felix, and spent the remainder of the night digging silently, working to make a grave for Felix I supposed. Zane had quietly offered his help to Tarren, but a forceful shake of his head had sent Zane on his way, and he was now resting, using his saddlebag as a pillow. How anyone could sleep at a time like this was beyond me.

"Bastard." I muttered, causing Evie to turn and stare at me.

"What?"

"Sorry, I was thinking out loud. How can he sleep after everything?"

Evie shrugged, "Maybe he's just more used to this kinda thing."

"How does one get used to death." I mumbled.

"You don't, but you learn to live with it." I jumped as Zane replied from his sleeping position, without opening his eyes.

I bit my lip, mortified. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

He waved his hand in my direction to silence me. "Peace. I know what you meant. However sometimes it is better to rest. It will do the dead no good if you strain yourself to exhaustion. There is nothing we can do at the moment until Tarren has finished what he has to do. So I suggest you try and get some rest."

Evie and I exchanged glances. How the hell did he manage to constantly be aware of everything going on around him, even when it seemed as if he was sleeping?  
Evie shrugged in reply to my unasked question, neither of us had a good answer to it, but both of us were pondering it.

We spent the remainder of the night in relative quiet; Zane appeared to be fast asleep, Tarren had not left his task, and Evie and I drifted in and out of sleep. Every once in a while I would jerk awake, the events of the night haunting my mind, however eventually exhaustion claimed me and I must have fallen properly asleep for the next thing I knew it was morning and Evie was shaking me awake.

"I think we're leaving." She whispered to me in quiet undertones.

I looked around frowning. All our saddlebags were once again with the horses, Zane stood by them, frowning in impatience.

Tarren stood by a fresh mound of earth, Felix's grave I surmised, as his body was no longer in sight.

Evie patted Tarren's shoulder somewhat awkwardly, "Are you alright?"

He nodded his face grim. "I will be. We should continue on, there is nothing more we can do here. Felix is dead, and nothing I do will change that."  
"I'm sorry."

Tarren nodded in thanks, then murmured a prayer over Felix's grave before heading towards his horse. The horses were no longer attached together, Zane's work I guessed.

I frowned as I looked back at the corpse of the dragon. "What about the dragon's body."

Tarren glanced at it, before quickly looking away. "Let it rot."

We headed up the pass leading our horses, not looking back.

We travelled all day in subdued silence, it was bleak and dull but none of us could think how to break it considering the sobriety of our mood. We stopped nowhere in particular for the night, as the scenery changed little as we travelled; only growing colder.

The weather took a turn for the worse during the night, we woke to a dull drizzle the next morning, which slowly became a storm and as the day turned into late afternoon, a blizzard. We had passed the mountains snowline some time before, and conditions had worsened rapidly since then. The wind picked up and the rain became sleet, making it impossible to see further than a foot from our faces.

We had kept the horses tied together with about a metre of slack between them, as we did not want them bolting. This now served to keep ourselves from separating from one another, as we held tightly onto the ropes attached to the horses.

"We need to find shelter, fast!" Zane's voice was almost completely lost by the howling wind.

"There is a cave somewhere up ahead; it is kept stocked for travellers! However I fear we will miss it in the storm"

I strained my ears to catch what Zane said next, however missed it completely. I stumbled on miserably, wondering if we would ever get out of this frozen nightmare. And then just when I didn't think it could get any worse, I tried and fell, rolling a fair way downwards. _Shit. _I immediately scrambled to my feet, and called out to the others, but my voice was ripped away by the storm. I had completely lost my bearings, and all sight of the others, but I stumbled back to where I thought I had fallen from. It was no use, there was no sight of them and in this weather I could pass a metre from them and never know. Bitter tears were falling down my face and freezing as soon as they did so.

You know when you have a fight with a friend, or something bad happens, you think to yourself, this is bad, but in an hour or so it will be sorted out, I will be talking and laughter to my friend again like nothing happened, or I'll be home secure; this wasn't like that. Because all I could think was that in an hour instead of being safe, I could be dead.

Why's it always me?

I wasn't stupid; I knew if I stopped I would die. Therefore I stumbled blindly on; the only thing I was certain of was that I was not accidentally going back down the mountain, as the ground beneath me was gently sloping upwards. My biggest fear at that point was that I would stumble off the edge of the mountain, as the swirling snow made it imposable to see the ground, or where it might end.

I stumbled and fell, hissing in pain, the cold amplifying ever ache in my body. I groaned and stubbornly pulled myself to my feet again. I no longer felt so cold; a sort of numbness had spread through my body, making me feel impossibly tired. It was a nice change from the arctic chill I had been feeling, but I also knew it meant I was close to getting hypothermia, falling asleep and never waking up again.

I fell, not even feeling the cold snow as I lay upon it, and this time I did not get back up.

According to Evie, she was the first to notice me gone.

Unfortunately it wasn't until they reached the caves. Tarren caught sight of the gaping black hole which signalled the mouth of the cave and gave a shout of relief, "Here it is! Quickly lead all the horses into the cavern; it is large enough for them all."

It was as they did so that Evie looked around in confusion, "Where's Niki?"

Tarren looked around wildly, "Nikita!" he shouted, and when there was no answer, he turned to Evie desperately, "when did you last see her?"

"After you told us about the cave, she was just behind me I swear! I never noticed..." Evie's eyes filled with tears.

"We have to go look."

Tarren shook his head, "In this weather, we will never find her, and only freeze to death ourselves."

Evie punched him in the arm in outraged frustration. "How can you give up like that! How can you just leave her!"

"Because if we go looking for her, we will die and there is no chance of us finding her until morning when this storm dies down. Do you think I want to leave her? I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her, but there's nothing-nothing! We can do." Tarren shouted, and then turned away, his eyes suspiciously bright.

"If she digs herself in, she may be alright." Zane told Evie quietly, but she just shook her head and lay down with her back to others and cried, because she thought I was dead.

I was drifting between worlds when he found me.

I must have been half buried by snow, and how he ever saw me in the storm is beyond me. However he did, and I was jolted from my haze of sleep when I felt fingers at my throat, checking my pulse I guessed. I was half aware of what was happening, but too cold to move or even open my eyes. So I lay still and helpless as I felt myself being picked up and carried and then jolted on a moving horse, I would call him a savoir, except when I at some point in my drifting consciousness was aware enough to see him, I was met by a knight dressed all in black armour, and Catella's warning flashed through my mind _'beware the knight in shining armour' _I wasn't sure if his armour could be counted as shining, but he was the first metal clad man I had met and I was wary of him, excepting the fact that I had no idea who he was and what his intentions were; come on, how could I not be wary of the guy? However there was little I could do as I was already drifting off again, so I contented myself with the idea that he could not mean me too much harm as he had saved my life.

I suppose the journey seemed shortened to me, as I slept through most of what I would find out later had been about three days; the journey over the mountains was confusing and broken for me, I mostly dreamed of pain and snow, and did not properly wake until we were well over the mountains and indeed I did not properly open my eyes until I was in an inn somewhere, not far from Camelot itself.

I opened my eyes, for the first time lucid to be greeted by a small dull room, it was generic, and therefore I assumed an inn room, the room was empty, as unlike in the fairy tales, savoir have more lives than to just sit around waiting for sleeping girls to wake up. In fact come to think of it, the whole obsessive watching over thing is a kind of creepy concept anyway. I mean, what if you drooled in your sleep?  
Therefore I was half glad to wake up alone, although suitably confused as to where I was and what had happened. However, all mystery would soon be cleared as the door opened to reveal an old man.

So, not my knight in shining armour. Unless he'd put on about thirty kg and somehow managed to ride a horse one legged that is.

"The barkeep I assume." I muttered drily.

He gave a gap-toothed smile "Right you are lass." He burbled in a thick country accent.

Creepy.

"Sorry, how'd I get here?" I asked quizzically.

"I don't rightly know, you'll have to ask the man paying for the room, he'll be up soon enough I wager."

So, not all mystery solved then.

"And who's paying for the room?" I asked hopefully.

The barkeep shrugged, "I didn't ask his name if that's what you mean."

Gotta love medieval manners.

The man shrugged, "Anyhow, I brought you up some broth, if you feel like it; the man said you had been very sick. I'll just leave it here for you." He put a bowl of some kind of stew down next to the bed and left closing the door behind him.

I looked around at the room again, and spotting a bowl of water on a small table, I sat up and shakily walked over peering into it.

"Oh, attractive" I muttered sarcastically upon catching sight of my reflection.

Unlike fairytale princess who managed to stay picture perfect no matter what calamity they suffered through, I was only human, and it showed. Dismally.

My hair was lank and my skin had a sheen of what I hoped was sweat but feared was grease, I looked overall rather awful.

Therefore coming up with the logical solution, I plunged my head into the bowl of icy water-just as the door opened.

Of course it couldn't be some potbellied barkeep this time could it? It only had to be the man who rescued me.

My day was getting better and better, as I let out a shriek first at the temperature of the water, and then as I heard the door open behind me. I then attempted to spin round, somehow tripped on my own feet and ended up falling over-or would have done if he hadn't caught me.

Great, way to go for the embarrassment metre.

I stared up into a strangely familiar face, his skin was dark and tanned, his face fairly chiselled and his hair dark. Wonderful, as if it couldn't get any worse he had to be good looking and young as well.

"Uh, you know, I highly doubt this can actually get any more embarrassing so how bout you just set me down and we talk like civilized people." I told him starting up at his face.

He grinned and slowly stood me upright, whereupon I awkwardly sat myself on the bed, well aware of the cold water slowly dripping down my face and neck.

Before he could speak I suddenly gaped, realising where I recognised him from. He was the dark robed man who had been with Lord Theon; he had been the one who I feared had seen me, the one I had been most afraid of. Trust me to run into some of my companion's sworn enemy's lackeys. I wish that had at least sounded like it made sense in my head. Ignoring my brain's complaints, I gasped out loud and stuttered, "It's you!"

He stared at me quizzically, "Have we met?"  
Oh, wow. Embarrassing. Nothing like remembering someone and they having no memory of you.

"Weeks ago, in a tavern, I was with my friends, one of whom has a vendetta against your leader, Lord Theon."

The man blinked for a second in silence. "I'm sorry you must have me mistake n for someone else, I serve no-one but myself, especially not Lord Theon, and I have never been seen in his company either."

"I'm going mad" I told the room with an air of disbelief.

The man stared at me for a moment with a look of well placed confusion, then diplomatically changed the subject, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright I guess, I mean, I feel like I'm about to pass out, and I'm really cold, but I'm getting better right?" I said attempting to smile. "Can you tell me how I got here?"

"I was crossing the mountains two days ago, when I hit the snowstorm, as I was well equipped and out in the open I had little choice but to go through it, as fate would have it I came across you out in the open and knew you would not survive without my help. Tell me, what were you doing out alone in the storm?"

"I was separated from my companions," I suddenly had the urge to cry, "and I have no idea if they are alright or how I will ever see them again"

The man regarded me in silence for a moment, I did not know what to make of him, for his face bore little expression, he regarded me with an air of slight disinterest, yet his gaze upon me was keen. "Where were you headed with your companions?"

I suddenly wondered if it were folly to trust him, this man whose name I did not even know, yet I answered all the same. "We were headed to Camelot," I bit my lip, wondering with a sudden wild hope if he would take me there, stupid as the thought was.

He started almost imperceptibly, and regarded me again, as if searching me for something; whatever it was I do not think he found it as he relaxed after a moment. "What business do you have in Camelot?"

I struggled to find a reply, I could not tell him the real reason of course; telling someone you've just met that you're from the future is probably not the best way to make friends. "My friends and I are going to see Merlin."

He seemed to accept the answer for he did not continue that line in questioning, instead he asked my name.

"Nikita," I told him truthfully, and then paused, waiting for him to introduce himself. There was a short silence and with surprise I realised he was not about to identify himself, and therefore asked the question myself. "Who are you?"

"You can call me Mort for now, I am a mercenary of a kind I guess you could say."

I frowned, he worded his introduction as if Mort was not his real name, only an alias I was to call him by, and his so called job seemed somewhat dubious also. I could not help but feel that he was being less than honest with me, which made me trust him even less. After all, who was called Mort, it was derived from old French or Latin I was sure, meaning death. Whatever reason he has for the name, it did not endear me to him anyway.

I shivered suddenly, and then realised with surprise the cold pit in my stomach was back, and worse than before. I shivered violently, and he stared at me in surprise. "You are cold?"

I shrugged, "I feel a cold chill in my stomach spreading outwards, I guess because of my exposure to the cold in the mountains?"

He did not seemed convinced however, and regarded me intensely, "Curious" he murmured, then turned on his heel and left the room.

"Um?" I asked the walls, unsurprisingly receiving no response.


	14. When Strangers Meet

Ok firstly, I know an apology is in order. It has been sooooooooooo long since I last updated, unfortunatly real life caught up with me.

Firstly school picked up and since it's my last year, it means a lot of hard work. Then I got really sick, which meant i've been missing out on a huge amount of school, I'm finally better :) but unfortunately I'm going to have to work really had to catch up on everything I have missed which means I don't think I'm going to have time to update again for a long time. I'll do my best, but don't have your hopes up. I will update when I can. I promise I'm not abandoning the story though :D

On a different note, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter (I suffered abominable writers block while writing it) so feedback would be awesome. Ok enough from me, read on :)

Arrow.

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**Chapter Fourteen**

**When Strangers meet**

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_Things were not going the way fate had planned. It seemed at every turn her opponent met her move with a counter action. He seemed infallible, and of course, infinitely patient._

_

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_

We stayed in the inn for two days as I was embarrassingly weak, it felt like when you don't eat in too long and every time you move around you feel like fainting. Only as well as that, my limbs felt like rubbery noodles and I was on the edge of collapsing at every moment. However after two days of rest and less than savoury gruel I was feeling substantially better although I had almost died of boredom waiting for my recovery. Mort was a strange elusive soul, and one that I got no closer to understand as I spent more time with him. This frustrated me, as I liked to know where I stood with people, and also to gauge their character, which was something I found imposable to do with Mort, except to identify him as 'mysterious' which hardly helped.

On the second morning I was awoken once again by the innkeeper entering my room, apparently privacy was inexistent. How quaint.

"You're to leave today, he said to wake you and make sure you were ready to leave within the hour" the innkeeper told me briskly.

There was no need to ask who 'he' was; it could only be my mysterious saviour, Mort. I idly wondered if he was rich, for he surely must have paid the innkeeper a large amount of money that he spoke to me himself rather than sending one of the barmaids. However considering Mort's appearance, I disregarded the idea, no lord would be seen wearing the tattered clothes my companion donned.

I roused myself and dressed in the clothing which Mort had dredged up for my somehow; a long tunic which came down to my knees tied with a belt, a pair of leggings and my boots which had survived my snowy journey. It wasn't the most attractive look on earth, but it was comfortable.

I nervously made my way out to the stables where the innkeeper had told me to meet Mort, and sure enough he was standing waiting beside a bay horse.

He looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face, "I suppose you want a side-saddle, however I do not have one nor a second horse, you will have to ride behind me astride, I apologize for the indecency."

I noticed he had the annoying ability of rendering me speechless or feeling like an idiot with every moment of his company, however I rallied myself and managed to reply, "It's alright, I don't know how to ride side-saddle anyway."

My intended assuring comment was met by silence which only upped my nervousness; I guess not riding side-saddle was uncommon for the time. So much for trying to fit in.

He regarded me in silence once again, and then motioned for me to set myself up upon the horse. I obeyed and thankfully did not make too much of a fool of myself, I had become slightly better at mounting and dismounting horses since my first attempt.

Mort was a strange man, he reminded me a little of Zane with his quiet mentality and unreadable face, he was stoic, spoke little and made me entirely nervous. It wasn't that I didn't like him so much as he creeped me out.

He had a constant air of apparent indifference about him which set me on edge; it was hard to know what to do when you never knew where you stood with someone. Therefore the day passed slowly and awkwardly for me, although he seemed oblivious to the fact that his presence made me uncomfortable. You know those awkward silences when your with someone you don't know, and a thousand things are running through your head as you try to think of a way to break the silence, but all of them go unvoiced as you cannot bring yourself to actually same them? Now imagine that for an entire day.

It was funny how much I missed Evie. It wasn't as though in the past week I had even talked to her that much, you would have thought ending up in a place with nothing familiar would have brought us closer together, however if anything we had talked less, our minds occupied with other matters, other people. Being thrown into a different world can do that someone.

However she had remained my constant in a series of cataclysmic events, my rock in the wild sea.

And now she was gone.

Alright, so perhaps that was a little overdramatic, but honestly she was a million miles away from me and I had no way of knowing if she had survived the snowstorm, nor if she was headed my way. Admittedly, that day I was indulging in a bout of self pity, where nothing I thought about made me happy as I focused on all the bad events which had presided over my life for the past few days.

Just before nightfall we stopped without warning, it was our first stop of the day, but I had been too awkward to ask to stop for a rest or food before then. Our place for the night was fairly non-descript, we were at the bottom of a valley by a small freshwater stream providing us with water, and there was little shelter if it were to rain. Luckily it was a cloudless night and the moon was almost full which added to the otherwise fairly dull atmosphere, turning the valley into something somewhat magical, bathed in dark silver light, weird shadows twisting over the grass.

We had spoken little to each other as we had dismounted and Mort had given me a little food, I cursed myself the whole time, wishing I had Evie's innate ability to talk without any qualms. I still felt fairly ill and the cold pit in my stomach only made it worse, I wasn't sure if it was just from nervousness, or a remnant of my hypothermia in the storm, it didn't help that I had spent the last few hours wondering if by the way he acted that he did not like me, why he was helping me at all.

The question plagued me all through the meal as we sat in relative silence chewing on strips of dried meat.  
Finally I could take it no more and voiced my question, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because it is the right thing to do"

Oh great, so I was a charity case then.

It was stupid that I should feel so apart from Mort, after all he was probably on a few years older than me, but his face was sombre and he carried himself as a man who has known many sorrows in his life.

"Could you perhaps tell me about yourself, it is strange travelling with someone I know nothing about" I asked tentatively.

He was silent for a few minutes; however I could tell he was thinking rather than avoiding my question.

"That is a fair request, however there is little to tell. My father was a knight and I was raised in Camelot along with my brother, a few years ago I left the castle and have wandered ever since."

It told me little about him, however one fact I latched on to, "A brother? Could it have been him I saw and mistook for you?"

But Mort was already shaking his head, "That would be impossible, he's dead."

I winced, "Sorry."

His only reply was to tell me to get some rest.

I did not sleep well that night, sometime in the early hours before dawn; I woke up with a strange pressure on my throat, and spent the rest of the night feeling as if someone had placed on a rock on my chest. However by the time Mort had gotten up the feeling and dissipated and I did not want to make a big deal of nothing, so instead placated myself with the promise that if it happened again or got worse I would tell him. After all it was probably nothing.

He acted slightly more friendly towards me that day, perhaps realising from the night before how ill at ease I was, as throughout the day he commented on the things we passed, telling me what tree was what, of battles that had occurred at places we rode through, the stories behind the names of villages we passed.

Of course the awkwardness did not magically dissipate with a few words, but it eased somewhat, and I found the journey more bearable from then on.

It was one night as Mort lay sleeping that I absentmindedly fidgeted with my small satchel around my waist that I realised inside laid the mirror, the magic mirror given to me so long ago.

Sitting up with a faint gasp, I glanced warily at Mort, his breathing was heavy and I was almost certain he was asleep, therefore I walked a few metres away out of close earshot but still in eyesight of our camp, and pulled out the mirror.

I wasn't being devious per say, but neither was the reason for my distance entirely out of compassion to not wake my companion; when it came down to it, I was still not certain on how far I could trust him.

Therefore, hands almost shaking with anticipation, I held the mirror out in front of me, and feeling slightly stupid, whispered Evie's name.

For a moment, nothing happened, and I felt disappointment welling up inside me like a dark cloud, but then the mirror dimmed, showing what I guessed was the inside of Evie's pouch.

"Evie!" I hissed, suddenly a hand was grappling in my vision of the mirror, and Evie's face was visible by flicking firelight.

"_Niki!"_

I almost dropped the mirror in shock to be honest, I hadn't expected it to work, and seeing Evie there right in front of me was enough of a shock in itself.

I felt instant tears of relief in my eyes, but did not let them fall; "Evie" I whispered back, "Where are you?"

"We crossed the mountains a few days back, we are camping out in a forest somewhere, heading towards Camelot still, but we've been asking at every village we find if they had seen you. What happened?"

I shrugged, even though she could not see it, "I was rescued by a man, he calls himself Mort, he said he'd take me to Camelot..." I trailed off.

Evie picked up on my hesitation immediately, "Is he alright?"

I bit my lip uneasily, "I'm not sure. He acts distant all the time, and I can't work out what his agenda is."

She frowned worriedly, "But he saved you and said he'd take you to Camelot right?"

I nodded. "Yea, but I don't trust him, I just hope he will take me safely to the castle."

Evie's face filled with worry, "Just keep an eye on him I guess, We will try and catch you up to meet you as soon as possible but I think we are a few days behind you."

I mustered a smile, "I'm sure I'm making a big deal of nothing. I missed you Evie." I could feel tears threatening to spill over, "I've missed you so much."

"Me too. Thank god you're alive I was so scared. I thought..." she stopped and I interrupted before she could go on, "I know. I'm sorry. I'll see you soon ok?"  
She nodded and I tapped the mirror cautiously, causing it to go dark.

I sighed and put the mirror back in the satchel. However my night of revelations was not over yet as my hands caught on a crumpled piece of paper as I did so, I pulled it out frowning, and felt my heart stop as I realised what it was.

You know that feeling of sudden absolute despair you occasionally get? It hit me full force as I remembered the piece of paper which I had so carelessly shoved in my pocket back where it all started.

_I__'ve made the lives of countless men_

_And ruined those of many more_

_So stranger, pick either now or then_

_But be certain and be sure-_

_For this is a warning to those who choose_

_All may make their choice to squander or learn_

_This is a game of life, in which you win or lose._

_Any can enter, but few may return_

Reading it again now, it started to make a little more sense, and I got the sinking feeling that whatever the disk had been in the cinema, it was to blame for what had happened to us, and had I but had the presence of mind to examine this seemingly innocent piece of paper, I could have perhaps stopped it all from happening.

The first part was easy, obviously a number of people had fallen into the same trap we did, and some found happiness, others ruin. It was not a particularly happy prospect, so I moved on to the next lines; something about a choice, one we had obviously made without realising. The last part was decidedly ominous, and horrifyingly final. The chances of us returning were obviously very slight.

It shed little light on how we came to be here however, there was certainly no science behind it that I could comprehend, it was looking more and more like magic, as if we had been thrown into the world of Harry Potter and grabbed a portkey by accident.

Unfortunately this wasn't Hogwarts and I couldn't wave my wand and make everything disappear; I was stuck in this strange land with no logical way home.

I stuffed the piece of paper back into my pocket, with a mental note to show it to Evie if I saw her. _When _I saw her, I corrected myself. My pessimistic mood would help no-one.

I quietly went and lay back down, glaring at my companion who was sleeping soundly as if he was upon a warm bed, no such imagining was getting me anywhere however, as all I could feel was the unforgiving ground beneath my back, coupled with my racing thoughts meant I got a sleepless night.

We left early again, my companion showing no sign he had noticed my lack of sleep, for which I was glad. We were riding the horses through farm land along a dirt track, wide enough for the carts and wagons I was sure passed through regularly. It was a nice day, but I was in no mood for it, grumpy on my lack of sleep, and stressed out. You would think having seen Evie I would feel better, instead it had driven home how distanced I was from her, how much danger I could be in and how insane the whole situation was.

Unfortunately it was about to get worse, as the strange tight feeling in my chest began to return from the night before. At first it was simply a slight pressure pushing at me as if I had my hand pushing against my skin, however slowly over the next hour it grew worse, it began to hurt and I found my breath growing shorter. I wasn't going to say anything, I simply felt stupid, maybe I had bruised my chest or something, but slowly I grew dizzier as I found myself unable to draw proper breaths. A feeling of slow panic set in and I tried to call out to Mort riding ahead of me. He turned to look at me, a frown adorning his face, I guess because my voice sounded so strange. But I couldn't find any other words as my throat seemed unable to obey my commands, my visioning was greying as so I did what any self respecting girl would do in the situation; I fell off my horse.

I don't remember the landing for which I am thankful for, I must have passed out before I hit the ground and when I next came too, I was lying on my back , propped against a tree, a small pot simmered nearby on a makeshift campfire, the horses were tethered to a tree and Mort was no-where to be seen.

I frowned, it almost surprised me he had not simply tied me to the horse and rode on, he did not seem the sort to be bothered by small setbacks like fainting women. I immediately felt a stab of guilt; he was not the most talkative man but he had been kind to me and did not deserve such thoughts.

To speak of the devil, at the moment the man himself returned, carrying so plants and leaves, to what purpose I did not know.

Felt immediately awkward, a feeling which had become all too familiar in the past few days, and found myself devoid of words; 'what happened' just seemed se cliché, I had fallen off my horse, I knew how I had gotten into this position already.

"Hi". I tried weakly.

He looked up in confusion "I suppose I do look rather tall from up here"

I stifled a groan. Great, the colloquial language had passed over his head with a definite whistling sound.

"never mind' I muttered.

He looked down at me for a moment, "you fell off your horse."

_No shit Sherlock._

"Yes, I guess the heat got to me?"

He frowned, "Doubtful. Did you suffer dizziness, shortness of breath?"

I gulped. "Yeah...why?"

He frowned, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. I idly wondered if he actually had any other expressions in his repertoire, I had the wild urge to giggle, but stifled it as he spoke again.

"It would seem to me you have run afoul of something evil, tell me; in your recent past have you crossed paths with some creature of the dark?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes, his manner of speech did become tiresome eventually; "Not long before the snowstorm we came across a dragon, and fought and killed it."

His troubled expression shifted to something akin to shock; it was certainly the most interesting expression I had seen upon his face yet, his eyebrows lifted, his eyes bulged, and his mouth dropped open slightly. It wasn't the most flattering of looks.

So apparently dragon fighting wasn't as unremarkable as Tarren had made it seem.

"You killed a _dragon?_"

"Not just me, it was mostly Tarren, Zane and Felix, the rest of us just helped."

His eyebrows lifted even further, if that was possible, "You travelled with Tarren the Bear and Zane the swordsman?"

It was my turn to look surprised, "You know them?"

He let out a startled laugh "Who doesn't? They are men of great renown"

Well that was news to me.

"So what does this all have to do with me falling off my horse?"

He frowned again, "The dragon, did she...do anything before she died?"

"Only kill Felix" I snapped bitterly.

His face dropped into something like sympathy, which seemed ill-fitting on his face, he placed his hand upon my shoulder, "I am sorry."

I felt a tremble in my stomach, and nothing to do with my recent fall. I was oddly aware of his hand touching me, and could think of nothing to say. _Pull yourself together _I told myself fiercely. "Now you mention it...she looked at me. The dragon I mean. And I think she said something, though I don't know what. Our gazes did not break until she died, and I felt most odd a moment later, until I was distracted by Felix's plight."

His hand dropped from my shoulder and I felt oddly befit of the warmth, however his next words drove all such thoughts from my head entirely.

"I fear you have been cursed."

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Reviews are my life.


	15. The Parting of Ways

See now aren't I good, putting up another chapter already :)

Read and review, thanks.

**Chapter Fifteen**

The Parting of Ways

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_Pestilence looked on eagerly at the havoc he was wreaking. Death gave an indulgent smile, "Come brother, you know you are not supposed to tamper with our affairs. Go and help War, your brother is stirring trouble__ for Camelot, tell him he must wait. I have an agreement with Fate."_

_Pestilence nodded__; it made no difference to him, his work here was already done._

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Of course, my first instinct was to laugh. I mean really, cursed? Fine, so I was beginning to accept that the way we had come here was not simply science, and a dragon in itself had to be something magical. But curses? That was just stupid.

However the way Mort was looked seriously at me made me refrain, so maybe I was ill and in this primitive time that was explained away by a curse; fine, I would play along if it meant he could make me better.

"How would I get...cursed?"

"It is well known that out of all creatures, dragons are most notorious for horribly cursing their victims with their dying breath. They are vindictive creatures who will do anything for revenge, if this one had the chance, she would most certainly curse whichever of you she saw first with the death curse, made infinitely stronger by her last breathe".

"So because she cast a curse as she was dying it's really powerful" I summed up disbelievingly.

He stared at me as if I were slightly stupid, "Did your mother never tell you this?"

It was so difficult not to laugh. I could just imagine it now, as mum threw the pre-packaged pizza in the microwave 'by the way dear, dragon's curse you, so watch out for them as well as strangers'. Somewhat unlikely.

"...No I can't say she did. So what do we do about this curse? And what will it do, make me sick?"

He shrugged. "I am a healer, not a master magician, to lift a curse like this, you will have to ask Merlin, which I am sure will be no trouble as you are going there. However you would do well to do it fast, for if you leave it, you will die."

It was my turn to look shocked; how could he act so unconcerned about the prospect of my imminent death? I tried to rationalise it in my mind. Of course it wasn't a curse, his medieval logic was simply scaring me; in this time what couldn't be explained was put down to magic. I had probably gotten a chest infection from the snowstorm, which if I were careful, would disappear. I certainly wasn't going to whatever medical equivalent they had here of a doctor, I knew from history books that to see a doctor in this time was often more fatal then not; the doctors killed their patients more than they saved them.

I offered Mort a tremulous smile, "When I get to Camelot I will be sure to talk to Merlin."

He nodded, satisfied. "Good, you would be a fool not to. Now can you ride?"

I blushed, embarrassed I had wasted so much of the day and made my companion wait at my expense. "Of course, I am sorry I am wasting so much of your time."

He shrugged, "It is time well spent."

Having no idea what he meant or what to say to his usual riddle-like statements, I gave another weak smile and then went to mount my horse.

Mort quickly packed up the makeshift camp and we were soon travelling again, as if nothing had ever happened.

I eventually broke the silence with a question that had been plaguing me since we had left the inn, "How long will it take to get to Camelot?"

"We will be there by tomorrow morning."

I raised my eyebrows surprised, I had thought it would take longer.

"Thank you." I murmured.

"For what?" he turned back to look at me, frowning quizzically.

I stared at him. "For helping me in the mountains, for looking after me at the inn, for taking me to Camelot. All of this you did not have to do, yet you did, for a stranger. Without you I would be dead."

He turned back to looking ahead, but not before I saw a slight hint of red upon his cheeks; my companion was blushing? Who knew he could be so human.

"It is what any man of moral would do. I am heading past Camelot, as it is on my way this is no trouble for me. And I could not save you only to abandon you, it is not safe for a young woman to travel alone. Although I find it curious you were travelling at all, especially with a group of men."

Now I was the one put on the spot, and unsure how to answer.

"Tarren accompanied us as a guide and guardian as a favour to a friend, he was protecting Evie and I. Zane joined us on the way, why I am not sure. Felix was a friend of Tarren's. We were all headed for Camelot for reasons of our own I guess."

I suddenly wondered if I had revealed too much.

"And who is Evie?"

I almost laughed, it was so typical, Evie wasn't even here and she still managed to capture the attention of every eligible man in the vicinity. I froze mid thought-eligible man? That was just a creepy thought about Mort. I banished it.

"Evie was my other companion, she and I were travelling to Camelot when we were joined by our other companions.

"It is well, for young women should not travel alone." He repeated.

I refrained from an eye roll. _I got that the first time._

"Well I am not travelling alone, I travelled with Tarren and the others, and now with you." Then I died of mortification when I realised what I had said.

He glanced at me, "Indeed. As it should be." And with another of his confusing statements, he promptly launched into a tale of a battle that had taken place at the very location that we rode by, leaving me bewildered at his prior statement and wondering if his tale had simply been a purposefully fast subject change.

If nothing else, I decided, Mort was odd. But I liked him, and that threw me.

At nightfall we camped next to a small forest which looked just like every other piece of land we had rode through, however I was buoyed by the knowledge that Mort had given me; Camelot lay on the other side of the small forest, and in the morning it would take little time to arrive there.

This would be the last night I would awkwardly lie, trying to sleep aware of my companions breathing from across the campfire; and in a strange way I would miss it. It had become familiar to me, and I was beginning to trust Mort, even though I knew nothing more about him.

We sat quietly around the small homemade fire Mort had started, eating dried meat and somewhat stale bread from the saddlebags. It wasn't particularly pleasant fare, nor different from what we had been eating for the past weeks, but it was filling, and I was beginning to understand that was all that mattered.

"Where will you go, after Camelot?" I suddenly asked.

Mort looked up from his meal, his face as expressionless as ever. "I shall continue on, to my home for a while." He replied neutrally.

I was sorely tempted to ask where that was, but felt too much like a stalker to do so.

There was a short silence, finally broken by Mort. "I live south west of Camelot, about two weeks journey away, near Exeter."

"Are my thoughts that obvious?" I asked in puzzlement.

He smiled, which surprised me. It was probably the first genuine smile I had seen on his face, and it suited him.

"no, I am simply adept at reading expressions. And it was a simple conclusion to draw."

I wanted to tell him the truth then, of why I wanted so badly to go to Camelot, the business which I held with Merlin. But I didn't; maybe I was being careful, maybe I was simply too much a coward. But the moment passed, and he nodded to me, "we should get some rest, we will rise early tomorrow."

I nodded; "Good night" I grabbed my blanket and turned so I was facing away from Mort, as usual I couldn't get comfortable, and I felt like his eyes were burning into my back, but I was too afraid to turn around and look, though whether I was more afraid of turning around and seeing him not looking, or looking, I did not know.

I eventually fell asleep, and woke early, frozen cold with the sun just rising on the horizon, dew was everywhere and I was damp and wishing desperately for my own bed. For once I was awake before my companion, so I decided to get up and make use of myself. I brushed the horses as well as I knew how, having been taught roughly by Tarren, I then gave the horses water and packed my blanket into the saddlebags. The sun was still not above the horizon, and my companion was still sleeping, so I sat with my back against a tree, watching the scenery. Without meaning to, I found myself watching Mort. He was asleep facing me. Usually his face was graced with a frown, or nothing at all, however the wrinkles upon his forehead were smoothed out, and a small smile adorned his lips. It changed his face, made him look younger, more human. He was actually fairly handsome, once you got past his indifferent exterior, there was a kindness to him, one just had to look for it. I suddenly started, realising I had been staring at him and turned away, just in time it seemed for a moment later I heard him sit up. "Morning" he muttered.

I nodded a greeting to him and then went to saddle my horse, a few minutes later we were ready to leave. We travelled at a leisurely trot through the forest, there was no need to hurry after all, as we had no far away target to reach before nightfall, only the forest to pass through.

It was a beach and oak forest, and therefore very pleasant, I had always loved English trees, and these giants were enough to make anyone in awe of them. It was also bustling with wildlife; the calls of birdsong were all around us, cicadas were hard at work, and the gentle rush of a stream could be heard nearby, all familiar sounds. It was good to know the world hadn't changed so much in the past thousand years or so.

We reached the end of the forest in about an hour, and there before me stood the most welcome sight I have ever seen. Across the fields in the distance stood a huge castle, surrounded by a high stone wall, and flying many banners and flags. There was a constant stream of traffic to and fro the castle from a dusty path, merchants, soldiers, knights, all kinds of people were shimmering in the distance.

I turned with a huge smile to Mort, "That's Camelot?"  
He inclined his head, but made no move to continue riding forwards.

I frowned, "Are we not going then?"

"_We _are not. You are going to Camelot, but my path lies in another direction."

I stared at him stunned, for some reason I had up until that point assumed he would be coming with me, though why I thought this I do not know.

"You aren't coming with me" I tried to sound casual but I think my panic seeped through.

He took pity on me this, fir his face softened, and he brought his horse closer to mine so he was looking directly at me, "Lady Nikita, you go where I cannot follow, I am no longer welcome in Camelot. I travel instead to my home, south-west of here, about three weeks journey away, near Exeter. We may yet meet again"

"What do I do now?" I felt helplessly lost without his guidance.

He gave a slight smile, "You ride the rest of the distance to Camelot, you ask for an audience with Merlin and you conduct whatever business it is that you have with them. And then you wait for your companions, I am sure they will find you." He looked at me searchingly a moment, "How old are you?"

It was an odd question, but I answered anyway. "Seventeen"

He looked surprised, "You look younger."

I pursed my lips, as if I hadn't heard that before. "Yes I know. How old are you then?"

He shrugged, "Twenty, or thereabouts. I know you are unfamiliar to being alone, and indeed that is not something you should become accustomed to" a look of sadness crossed his face for a moment before he continued, "but from what I have seen of you my lady, you are a resourceful woman. Do not forget to talk to Merlin about the curse, before it is too late."

I nodded, shocked by his age, I had thought him so much older. "Thank you" tried hesitantly. "For everything. I hope I will see you again."

He gave a slight bow, which should have looked awkward in the saddle but of course he somehow managed to pull it off. "God be with you" and then he kicked his horse into a gallop quickly diminishing into the distance, leaving me lost for words and feeling very alone.

I watched him go, feeling as if I should have said something more, then at last he rode out of my sight, and I felt a great sense of loss, as if something had been taken away from me that until then I hadn't known had existed.

I looked around. Camelot looked to be about maybe half an hour ride away, it was large and imposing and I didn't want to leave the relative safety and quiet of the forest's borders. Therefore instead I dismounted my horse, tethered it to a tree and pulled out the little mirror from my bag.

Once again its magic worked and I soon found myself looking into the excited face of Evie.

"Niki! How are you? _Where _are you?"

I grinned back, "I'm good, Mort just left, I'm within sight of Camelot, but...I don't really want to go in alone, how far away are you?"

"Tarren says we should be at Camelot in about four hours, we've been riding so hard the last few days, we must have caught up to you. Mort just left you?" she frowned.

I shrugged, "Yeah, it's ok he said he had to go home, it was kind enough of him to bring me this far. I'm at the border of the forest, I will wait for you there then."

She grinned, "I'll see you soon!"

I felt the urge to squeal happily, soon I would see my companions again! I said goodbye to Evie and settled down to wait.

I didn't think I was in any danger, as I imagined so close to the royal castle, there would be few brigades and indeed many knights patrolling, or so I hoped. It felt odd being by myself, and I found myself missing Mort, but then I chided myself, I was being pathetic. I could survive a few hours on my own.

It was, I had to admit, a fairly pleasant spot. I was under the shade of a great oak tree, and the grass was soft and lush beneath my feet. Overhead it was sunny, blue skied day; unusual as mostly we had slate covered skies. There were wrens and all kinds of other birds I didn't know flitting from branch to branch, and I even swore I saw a squirrel at one point. However I couldn't relax, this was the first time I had been alone, and I found myself jumping at every noise, every shadow. My imagination ran away with me as I began to run different scenarios through my head; what if Evie didn't arrive? What if bandits or any other manner of unpleasant persons found me here? What if I was attacked by wolves? I tried to shut my thoughts out, but it wasn't working so well, therefore when a few hours later I heard the sound of approaching hooves I almost died of fright.

However when I looked up, it was to the most welcome sight of my life. Evie was riding ahead, a huge grin plastered on her face, Tarren and Zane bringing up the rear, both of them smiling as if Christmas had come early.

I leapt to my feet with a cry. "_Evie_!"

And then she was there and somehow dismounted and we were hugging and crying and trying to talk at the same time and it was all a muddle, but I had never been happier.

Finally we calmed down and were each able to get a word in edgeways.

"I'm so glad to see you!"

"I missed you!"

And then Tarren was next to us smiling hugely and when I glanced at Zane I could have sworn there was a faint smile lighting his features for a moment before disappearing as if it had never been there.

"How long have you been waiting?" Evie demanded, "You waited here by yourself?"  
All my silly fears had faded into the past, unimportant now with the presence of my companions, "It was only a few hours, I was fine. I'm so glad you're here!"

Eventually Evie got the whole story out of me, and then described their own journey to Camelot, the days of riding from dawn till dusk, riding as fast as they dared.

I felt deeply guilty for making them journey in this manner to reach me, but also deeply grateful; if they had not come then I would not have known what to do.

"The main thing is that you are both safe, and we are finally at Camelot" Tarren interjected when Evie began to repeat how worried she had been for the hundredth time.

I grinned, "Shall we go then?"

Evie shook her head in wonder, staring at the castle a little way off in the distance. "Where _are _we?"

I think it was more a rhetorical question, but Tarren answered all the same.

"In Glastonbury, Somerset, and that is Camelot, home to the high king Arthur".

I grinned, I couldn't believe this was actually real, actually happening to me. Disastrous as this journey had been, much as I missed my world; this was in a way, the most amazing that that had happened, and probably would ever happen to me.

We all mounted our horses again, and then, unbelievably, we were off. Riding all together towards Camelot, it felt like a dream, we were finally all together again, and at our destination.

The guards searched us at the gate, though what they were looking for I'm not sure as they allowed us to keep our weapons; plans entailing treason or plots against the king perhaps, I don't know but whatever they were looking for they didn't find it on us, quickly allowing us through.

Camelot was just as impressive on the inside as the outside; it was its own small city within the high stone walls it seemed, market stalls followed the winding road up to the main gate of the castle itself, blacksmiths, stables, fletchers, houses, the city was full of them. And the people! More than I had seen so far in this strange world, filling the streets with shouting and colour and movement, shouting their wares to the world, cursing each other, and moving, always moving.

I confess myself quite in awe, such chaos was like nothing I had ever seen before, it was like a continues riot with no police force. However we moved swiftly up the street, through the moving crowds, clutching our saddlebags and valuables protectively, at a warning word from Tarren about the thieves and pickpockets which frequented busy places such as these.

At the end of the street stood another gate, and another stone wall, the defences of this place were obviously thick, and ready for any attack. We were once again searched at the gate, and this time our business in Camelot was asked.

"We seek council with Merlin for advice, and bring news from the north."

The guards seemed to accept our explanation, "I doubt you will see Merlin, he is busy with the king, however news will be welcome. Enter."

We filed through the gate one by one, entering into a large courtyard. To the far right stood a wooden building which was obviously the stables, from the sounds of horses whickering and the churned up dirt nearby.

A great oak tree stood in the centre of the courtyard casting welcome shade over everything, directly in front of us stood another open gate. Some travellers, merchants and mistrals from the look of them, sat resting under the shade of the great tree, eating some kind of fare. The bustle was no less in the inner city; stable boys were everywhere leading horses to and fro, guards were constantly patrolling and obvious visitors were wandering by as well.

We handed our horses over to the eagerly waiting stable boys and cautiously walked through the gate; Zane had already slightly pompously asserted that he knew the way as he had been to Camelot and personally met King Arthur before, however we as usual did not pay too much attention to him and instead Tarren took the lead through the gates. Perhaps that was unfair, after all Zane had improved in attitude and character since the beginning, however he still managed to irritate me at times and I considered Tarren our leader, not Zane.

Through the doorway was a short corridor of stone, lit by torches hung on brackets from the walls; at the end of this hall stood huge double wooden doors, guarded on either side by a soldier.

Tarren walked up to them fairly confidently I thought, and explained our mission.

One of the soldiers shrugged, "Merlin isn't here right now, but the king is. He will want to hear news from the north as soon as possible, no word has reached us of that area for some time. It is meal time now, and there will be a social court, with your news you will be welcomed. You may go on."

They began to push the doors so we would be able to enter.

Looking at the slowly widening entrance, I realised I had no idea what to expect.

* * *

Next Chapter: We get to meet Arthur, and more importantly in my mind, Lancelot. Finally get to set up the plot for later and stuff yay! :)


	16. Author's Note

**Authors Note**

****Well, it has been a long time. Basically, this is to let anyone know who still cares that this story is pretty much abandoned. I wrote it when I was like sixteen, so it is undoubtedly immature. I can't really keep tweaking it to try and make it better; I just don't like it.

And yet.

The problem is, its also the story i've been trying to write since I was about twelve. The damn thing won't go away, and I have perpetual writers block until I work on it. I think (silly as it sounds) my brain is telling me I have to write the damn thing down before I can do anything else.

For the moment I'll keep this story up; I need to use it as a reference. (oh god you think..) yes, you've guessed it. I'm re-writing the bloody thing again, it must be the 5th time at least. Hopefully, although I've had little practice since my last update, my writing will have magically improved and prove readable. If you bother reading this new story, which isn't fully developed in my head but will follow the same rough guidelines I suppose, I thank you. And I also hope you will tell me if it is better or worse.

Also I don't find the whole being-pulled-through-a-movie-screen thing so realistic. Will probably involve the lady of the lake for that one. Any complaints/character development/plot innovations you'd like to see that weren't there last time? Let me know.

On a side note, I'm now a uni student, hurrah! Does this mean I have more time to write? It shouldn't but yes, I've gotten lazy with assignments. Does this mean I am now a more intelligent and mature being? Most definitely not.

As always,

Arrow.


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